Azucarera Nacional Ingenio Santa Rosa
Coclé Province
From mid-January to mid-March this sugar refinery 15km southwest of Aguadulce processes more than 6500 tons of raw sugarcane daily. The process involves…
Must-see attractions in Panama
Explora Center of Science & Arts
Panama City
Mini travelers (and those young at heart) will love this museum dedicated to interactive learning. Six exhibition rooms explore such themes as electricity…
Isla Colón
This lovely beach is pounded by intense waves. Though you wouldn’t want to get into the water here without a board, the soft, yellow sand and palm-fringed…
Isla Colón
Boca del Drago, in the northwest of Isla Colón, is one of the best beaches on the island, though the surf can be rough at times. Just offshore from the…
Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
Panama City
These days only a shell, this 1741 convent and church in Casco Viejo was destroyed in a fire and further damaged in an earthquake but remains a thing of…
Panama City
The biggest park in the city is filled with children, joggers and the occasional salsa class. It's located in Omar, behind the San Francisco neighborhood…
Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo
Panama City
Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo is the best-preserved church of the ruins of Panamá Viejo. The convent dates from the 1570s, though the church was…
Panama City
An example of the baroque style in Panama, this Casco Viejo church was built in 1673 with a facade transferred from Panamá Viejo.
Coclé Province
This local cigar factory enjoys quite a reputation internationally for its unique hand-rolled Cuban-seed puros (cigars). Depending on the time of year, a…
Panama City
The story of the monumental effort to build the Panama Canal is powerfully depicted in murals by notable artist William B Van Ingen of New York. The…
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Isla Iguana
Península de Azuero
This 53-hectare reserve is centered on a deserted island ringed by corals. The water is shallow enough for snorkeling and, as elsewhere in the Pacific,…
Iglesia de San Francisco de la Montaña
Veraguas Province
This simple stone church, built in 1727, contains nine elaborately carved altarpieces, including the ornate main altar of ash and cedar. Although most…
Museo de Herrera Fabio Rodriquez
Península de Azuero
This small museum, housed in a lovely two-story colonial building, contains many well-preserved pieces of pottery dating from 5000 BC until the Spanish…
Portobelo
Under renovation at the time of research, the handsome, two-story Royal Customs House of Portobelo was originally built in 1638 to serve as the contaduría…
Colón Province
This observation center offers a panoramic view of the Panama Canal expansion, including the three-chambered Agua Clara Locks. Covered decks view Lago…
Coclé Province
Located 9km southeast of central Aguadulce, this saltworks is a crucial habitat for marsh and shore birds. The area draws local and international…
Comarca de Guna Yala
With excellent birdwatching and good rainforest trails, the 994-sq-km Área Silvestre de Narganá is a wildlife reserve of species-rich primary forest…
Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
Península de Azuero
This 18th-century churrigueresque (an ornate Spanish baroque style) church has some lovely carvings; check out the pulpit and the retablo (altarpiece). It…
Colón Province
The Área Protegida San Lorenzo is best explored with a guide, easily arranged at this community learning and visitor center, which lies on the edge of the…
Portobelo
Located in and around Portobelo, this 360-sq-km park and Unesco World Heritage Site protects islands and coastal communities of coral reefs, mangroves and…
Isla Bastimentos
One of Bastimentos' most fascinating natural wonders, Nivida is a massive cavern with swarms of nectar bats and a subterranean lake. The cave lies within…
Península de Azuero
This modest museum, on the north side of Plaza Simón Bolívar, occupies the former house where Panama’s Declaration of Independence was signed in 1821. Pre…
El Valle
The most famous waterfall in the El Valle region is 35m-high Chorro El Macho, one of four cascades located about 2km north of town; it's a 15-minute walk…
El Valle
About 1km north of Av Central, this zoo set in the forest is home to everything from tapirs and capuchin monkeys to jaguars and more than 50 species of…
Panama Amphibian Rescue & Conservation Project Center
El Valle
This conservation center was created in 2007 with the support of Houston Zoo to help save amphibians from a deadly virus threatening their numbers around…
Portobelo
Approaching from the west, Portobelo's first fort is Fuerte Santiago. Built in 1753, some 14 years after Vernon’s attack, some walls were 3m thick and…
Veraguas Province
An excellent half-day road and trail walk (five hours round trip) leads to this tall waterfall with a delightful swimming hole in the dry season. Follow…
Portobelo
In 1601 Fuerte San Felipe and Fuerte San Diego were built near the mouth of the bay but were subsequently destroyed by Admiral Vernon in 1739. Fuerte San…
Comarca de Guna Yala
Stuffed with objects from everyday life as well as molas and religious artefacts, this small museum provides a good cultural and historical understanding…
Bocas del Toro Town
If sun, sand and surf isn't your thing then consider a trip to this cave in Colonia Santeña, a small village of cattle farmers 7km northwest of Bocas town…
Portobelo
This Roman Catholic church dating from 1814 is home to Portobelo's famed Black Christ; it's to the left of the main altar. The faithful attribute scores…
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Islas Taboga y Urabá
Panamá Province
This 258-hectare wildlife reserve was established in 1984 to protect a key avian habitat. Taboga and nearby Urabá are home to one of the world's largest…
El Valle
For the largest selection of orquídeas (orchids) in the region, visit this idyllic, not-for-profit garden east of the center, run by the local association…
Área Silvestre Protegida Lagunas de Volcán
Highlands
Some 4km west of Volcán, this protected area encompasses the highest lake system (1240m) in Panama. The two picturesque lakes swell in the rainy season,…
Península de Azuero
Master mask-maker Carlos Ivan de Leon creates the most elaborate and frightening masks in Panama at his house just after Calle Segundo Villareal. He…
Península de Azuero
At the Hacienda San Isidro near Pesé, 23km southwest of Chitré, Varela Hermanos, the country's largest seco (alcoholic drink made from sugarcane)…
Veraguas Province
There’s a lovely swimming hole on this river about a 20-minute walk from town. Head northeast along the road past the Coffee Mountain Inn on the way to El…
Academia de Costumbres y Tradiciones Gabriel Villarreal
Península de Azuero
A local training ground for young festival artists, the Academy of Customs & Traditions Gabriel Villarreal offers classes in dancing, mejorana (a kind of…
Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús
Panama City
In Panamá Viejo, the Jesuits arrived a decade or so after Dominican friars and built Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús, whose stone ruins are…
Veraguas Province
This vast, mountainous park covers 726 sq km of pristine wilderness, extending from the northern edge of Santa Fé to the Cordillera Central, and includes…
