Must-see Panama city and around

We landed the night before in Panama city and we check in Hotel Boutique Casa Marichu. We book a little studio to save a bit on the breakfast, in Casco Viejo you have a little supermarket called Rey. This hotel boutique is really well placed and I love the pool on the roof. But today we have a busy day so let’s go!

We took a Uber direction Panama Viejo. It’s basically the first city of Panama that is in ruins thanks to Henry Morgan. You have a little museum, where all the stories of Panama are explained. The entrance cost 15$ for tourists and it’s closed on Monday.

We took an Uber to The Hospital of the kids, where in front you have the letters of PANAMA. We crossed the street and walked on the Cinta Costera, it’s a really nice walk with a beautiful landscape.

We stopped to eat at the fish market. Here you can eat for very cheap. Just behind the restaurants you have the market.

Then we continued to walk until Casco Viejo, we walked in the old town, we first stopped at the museum of the Molas. It’s free, small and interesting.

Then we walked to the Plaza de la Catedral, where you have the museum of the Canal that is really interesting. We continue walking until the Hotel Sofitel, and on the left you have a few stairs that bring you to the Plaza de Francia. Nice walk and nice view.

Started to be tired from walking so we stopped at la Rana Dorada to have a craft beer.

We had dinner in Fonda Lo que Hay, one of the best restaurants in Latin America. Small cart, fresh product, and lovely staff. Just love it! It was a fusion between Panamanian and Asian food. We waited a bit to get a table but it was so worth it! But I think now you can book so do it! Tired from this first day, time to go to bed!

We visited the Canal of Panama Miraflores. Be careful of the schedule of the boat, you can find it on their website. We came for the opening at 8am because the last boat of the morning was at 8:30. After we watch a movie that explains the construction of the canal, it’s included in the ticket that cost 17$.

After we went to the Muelle Publico de Gamboa. Negotiate well with your Uber or Taxi to get you there and to take you back to the city. It will cost you between 40 and 50$for transport and the tour costs 30$ per person. I booked with @isla_monos. After you can also book a tour that includes the Canal Miraflores and the money Island, I think it costs a bit more than 100$ per person.

We went back to Casco Viejo. We had lunch at snack shack and then we walked around And we went back to the hotel to have a nap and enjoy the pool.

We took an Uber until Amador. We asked to leave us in the middle and we walked down the Biomuseo. It’s a really nice walk and the view is amazing.

We stopped in Canal House to have a beer and eat. Really nice vibes and view. Then we took an Uber to go back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will wake up early.

Departure for San Blas. We booked a day tour for 130$ per person. San Blas is a little paradise. It's an indigenous province : Guna Yala. You will visit 2 islands and a natural pool. The meal is included. Around 5:30 pm we went back to the hotel.

Today we are going to meet the Embera, another indigenous community. We booked this tour directly with the Embera Drua. He also organised us the transport for 80$ in total. And the tour was 40$ per person. If you need the number don’t hesitate to write to us. We first took a pirogue to reach the village, where we discovered how they live, we had lunch also. We also stopped at a waterfall where we swam. It was really nice. And they are lovely with people! Around 4pm it was time to go back to the city, it’s about an hour drive.

At 7am we picked up the car that we rented for the rest of our trip. And direction the Caribbean coast. 2 hours later we arrived at Portobello. First we stopped at the ruins of Fuerte de Santiago.

We went to the main square where we visited the little museum to discover the afro Caribbean culture.

We went to the port of Portobelo, and we asked to go to Playa Blanca and Playa Puerto Frances. It paid around 30$ per person. We arrived at Playa Blanca, we enjoyed the beach, and we had lunch there. It was quite the morning but later on more people were coming.

We asked him to pick us up around 1:30pm to go to the next beach: Playa Puerto Frances. It was quiet, and we did a bit of snorkelling on the left side. It was some fish. Nothing crazy but it was nice. We left around 3pm. From the puerto of Portobelo we drove north towards Linton Bay marina, to have a beer and some food.

We stopped to the restaurant of Linton Bay Marina. The kitchen closes super early so don’t arrive too late. You don’t have a lot of options around. We definitely recommend this one, the food is good, the prices also and the view is really nice!

We drive to our hotel Ber Mar with a super view of the bay. We relaxed and booked a tour for the next morning. The room decoration is a bit old but it’s clean. And the view is amazing. It’s also a really good price and the owner are really sweet.

After breakfast, our boat picked us up at the hotel, and we went to the mangrove, we stopped for a swim.

We stopped on Isla Mamey. You need to pay for the entrance. Usually people come with a cooler but we were planning to eat on another island.

Just before we arrived at Isla Grande. We saw monkeys on another island. Isla Grande has a lot of restaurants and hotels. We walked around the town in the direction of the Faro. But it was too hot so we didn’t walk until there.

We had lunch and stayed a part of the afternoon at Candy Rose Restaurant. Comfortable seats, nice food, and good music. You can also swim just in front. At 3pm we walked back to the beach, had a last swim waiting for the boat and went back to our hotel. I think this tour cost us 30$ per person because we shared it with another group from the hotel.

Back at the hotel. We enjoyed the sunset. They can also prepare dinner. We just needed to book it in the morning, so we decided to eat there and relax for our last night on the Caribbean side.

We left the Caribbean coast around 6:30am to go to the Pacific side. 5 hours later we arrived to Valle d’Anton.

We went to the market and we had lunch in the restaurant next to it.

We went to hike the India Dormida. It took us around 2h to go and come back. It’s not super difficult but you keep going up so it can be a bit challenging.

We went to the hot spring: Pozo termales. The water is not crazy hot but it’s quite relaxing. Be careful it closes at 4pm the week and 5 the weekend. Then we went back to the hotel, and went out in town for dinner.

After breakfast, we went to Chorro Macho. Nice and easy walk in nature.

We went to butterfly haven. It was beautiful.

We stopped to playa Farallon to have lunch at Mia Beach.

At 1:30 we took take the road again for Punta Chame We arrived at Punta Chame an hour later. It’s the paradise of Kite Surfers. Loved the landscape just before the town.

We spend the afternoon and sunset at Machete Wing. The landscape is amazing for sunset. We had a beer and pizza to end the day perfectly. You can also practice Kite Surf. After sunset we checked in at Panama Kite Center. And time to sleep.

We went for a walk at the point of Punta Chame.

We had breakfast/lunch at Panama Kite Center and enjoyed the morning view. You can also take kitesurfing lessons

After the check out, we choose to spend the afternoon in Playa Caracol. Until 3pm to avoid the traffic going back to Panama city

We are back to Panama city, we left the car. And we checked in at Selina Casco for our last night. And we enjoyed the rooftop of Selina for our last night.

We wake up early to go to Cerro Ancon. You can take an Uber until the beginning of the walk. Early in the morning we saw many animals like monkeys, coatis, toucans, … On the top you have a beautiful view of the city.

We had breakfast in Mahalo. Love the little patio behind. It was really good.

We walked around Casco Viejo for one last time, and did our souvenir shopping. Then it was time for us to go to the airport.