With rugged trails and blazingly colorful neotropical life, Panama’s national parks are some of the best in the world. Its highlands are steeped in rambling coffee fincas, thunderous rivers and waterfalls. Its coastline boasts kaleidoscopic coral reefs and epic swells that have drawn daring wave-seekers since the 1970s.
And if all that sounds unbelievable, there are hundreds of Caribbean islands where you can sip a dram of rum and indulge in some hammock time. Panama, the bridge between the Americas, is a powerhouse of possibility – the only challenge is choosing what to see when you get there. Here’s our pick of the top things to do on your Panama vacation.
1. Stroll the winding streets of Casco Viejo
If the booming, high-rise Banking District is the economic engine of Panama’s capital, the urbane quarter of Casco Viejo is its spiritual heart.
Established in 1673 after the pirate Henry Morgan transformed the original settlement of Panama City (now Panama La Vieja) into an inglorious pile of rubble and ash, Casco Viejo, once a defensive outpost, has gone through enormous change.
After falling into ruin during the reign of dictator Manuel Noriega, this neighborhood is now one of Panama’s most prestigious and popular locales.
Stroll through its warren of streets, where handsome plazas play host to fine mansions, buzzing terraced cafés, ritzy art galleries and a restaurant scene to satisfy the most ravenous gourmand.
Don’t miss the historic sites – the district’s defensive walls have long been dismantled, but its wealth of 16th and 17th structures remain. Among them, the church of San José features a priceless, baroque gold altar that miraculously escaped Morgan’s sacking of Panama La Vieja.
2. Watch giant ships move through the Panama Canal
The age of engineering reached its pinnacle with the Panama Canal, an 80km-long (50 miles) international shipping channel that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea. Unlike the Suez Canal, which is entirely at sea level, the Panama Canal utilizes a series of enormous, mechanized locks…
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