San Blas Islands and Panama City

✈️ From everywhere in the world you can easily find cheap flights to Panama City. When you arrive at the airport, take a Uber to your hotel (approx. 25 minutes drive to downtown). Welcome in Panama 🇵🇦 Nomada Hotel is a super nice place to stay in the middle of the business district of Panama City. This area is one of the safest places in town and is home to some major shopping malls. The concept of Nomada Hotel is so cool! You'll sleep in a container that's been customized to a beautiful hotel room with a private bathroom. A wonderful place to start your Panama trip.

The hotel where you stay serves breakfast and coffee (for a fee) in their restaurant with terrace. We recommend taking it easy and recovering from the long flight. Temperatures can get very high in Panama City so it is best to go out in the morning or late afternoon. In the morning you can visit the luxury shopping mall across the street and look up at all the skyscrapers. In the afternoon it's time to discover the historical town center of Panama City: Casco Viejo.

You can easily take a Uber to Casco Viejo (it's safe and cheap). It's about a 20 minutes drive. Casco Viejo is a colonial neighborhood full of good restaurants and cozy boutique shops. Walk through the picturesque streets and enjoy the beautiful buildings and old churches. After your town stroll we highly recommend you to visit Tántalo Hotel and Rooftop Bar. From here you have an amazing view over the city! After dinner you can take an Uber back to the hotel. A great first impression of the city!

Below you'll find our Top 5 Must Sees in and around Panama City.

Be amazed by this world famous piece of engineering. There are plenty of day trips and even multi-day cruises that will take you to this 82km/51miles artificial waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The massive locks and beautiful nature will undoubtedly impress you.

This Fish Market is a wonderful place full of authenticity. The market itself is quite small and good for a short visit. However, there is so much more to see outside. You'll see small fishing boats at the dock where locals are working all day long. The perfect place for a fresh and healthy lunch in one of the many (fair priced) fish restaurants with daily promotions depending on the catch.

After lunch it's time to take a walk along the shore. Amador Causeway is the perfect spot to escape from the hectic city for a little while. This 6km/3.7miles boulevard road connects mainland to the Causeway Islands and has a beautiful scenery. Enjoy the Pacific breeze.

Another amazing project in Panama! This land reclamation project resulted in a 26 hectares/74 acres area with a beautiful view on the city skyline and the bay. A wonderful place to stroll around and mix with the locals enjoying outdoor sports etc. This is also the place for mayor event like Carnival.

Just outside of town you'll find this beautiful natural park full of wildlife. With the skyline in the background you're able to enjoy nature at its purest here. One can easily walk around for hours looking for birds, turtles and even sloths!

Today you go to the highlight of your Panama trip: The San Blas Islands 🏝. The San Blas Islands are an archipelago of 357 tropical islands off the coast of Panama. It is a true paradise and we recommend booking a tour of at least 2 nights. At 5 o'clock in the morning you will be picked up from your hotel and after a 3.5 hour drive you will arrive at the 'harbour' from where the boats go to San Blas. During the ride you will make a short stop at a small supermarket where you can buy some drinks and snacks for the upcoming days.

After an hour of sailing you arrive at the island where you will stay for the next 2 nights. You will get a nice lunch with fresh fish and after that you will already join the first tour! You will visit a sandbank in the middle of the sea and then go snorkeling at a small island where a shipwreck lies under water.

At the end of the afternoon you will be brought back to the island where you are staying and you can enjoy the peace and tropical vibes. A nice dinner is served around 7.30 pm. All food is included (3 meals a day) and drinks can be bought at the bar.

In the morning breakfast is served and after that you have until 1 pm to relax on the beach and swim in the sea.

After lunch you will take the boat to another sandbank and then to another island where you can sunbathe and of course snorkel.🏝 All islands are breathtakingly beautiful. Exactly how you imagine a tropical island 🤩🧡

You will be brought back to the island where you are staying and you can continue to relax in one of the hammocks or on the beach.

it's already the last day on the San Blas Islands. We recommend opting for a late checkout so that you can enjoy the tropical island until 3 pm. The price for a late checkout is around USD 15 extra per person and so worht it!

After lunch you can choose to join the tour again to one of the other islands. After sunbathing, snorkeling and enjoying yourself, it is around 3 pm time to go back to Panama City. Around 7 pm you will be back at the hotel in Panama City.

After a night's sleep in Panama City, it's time to head back to the airport. Of course you can also choose to stay a little longer in Panama City or to travel further through Panama.