Coclé Province
Officially called the Museo Regional Stella Sierra, but better known by its former title, Museo de la Sal y Azúcar, this museum in the former post office,…
Must-see attractions in Panama
Highlands
The pre-Columbian ruins at this site 6km west of Volcán along the Río Gariche date from between AD 300 and 900, when the settlement had as many as 1000…
Península de Azuero
South of the main square is the former home of three-time president Belisario Porras, during whose administration the Panama Canal opened. The museum…
Península de Azuero
Set in the former residence of Manuel F Zárate, the folklorist devoted to conserving the traditions of the Azuero region, this museum is a good…
Panama City
Facing the Plaza Mayor in Panamá Viejo, these houses were built by Francisco Terrín. The better houses were usually built from timber and placed wall to…
Panama City
Panamá Viejo's center of power resided at Casas Reales, a complex ringed by timber ramparts and separated from the city proper by a moat. Within the…
Panama City
On the northeastern outskirts of Panama City, the white-domed Baha’i House of Worship is the mother temple for all of Latin America. It looms like a giant…
El Valle
El Valle’s peculiar árboles cuadrados (square-trunk trees) are located northeast of the Hotel Campestre. After a 30-minute hike through the forest and…
Mercado de Artesanías La Pintada
Coclé Province
La Pintada’s artisans' market – specializing in sombreros pintados, the 'painted hats' unique to Panama and especially famous in Penonomé and surrounds –…
Museo Histórico Padre José Noto
El Valle
The most interesting exhibits in this small, very central museum divided into seven sections are the ones focusing on petroglyphs and ceramics produced by…
Panama Canal
This cemetery in Paraíso on the road to Gamboa about 5km north of the Pedro Miguel Locks dates from between 1880 and 1889. Though there are just 300…
Darién Province
Just across the Golfo de San Miguel on Isla El Encanto are the ruins of the Fort of St Lawrence slowing being consumed by the jungle. There's not much…
Península de Azuero
Ceramica Hermanos Calderón is where you can buy traditional painted ceramics at wholesale prices. These pieces are made on the premises in a workshop…
Península de Azuero
Unlike many cathedrals that impress through ostentation, this 18th-century number is striking for its elegant simplicity and fine balance of gold and wood…
El Valle
The most accessible of the waterfalls around El Valle is Chorro Las Mozas, located about 2km southwest of town; you can reach it on foot from the center…
Chiriquí Province
This long and lovely black-sand beach 25km southwest of David is a popular weekend escape for city folk, but you'll have the place all to yourself if you…
Isla Colón
French-Canadian Robert Bezeau crafted this four-story castle from 40,000 plastic bottles. The epitome of recycling, it's one of a kind and worth a good…
Panama City
Once the headquarters for the US Southern Command in Panama, ‘Ciudad del Saber’ is today a government-sponsored center for education, research and…
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Playa Barqueta
Chiriquí Province
The Refugio de Vida Silvestre Playa Barqueta Agricola oversees about 14km of eastern Playa Barqueta, where mangrove and scrub offer protection to four…
Darién Province
Yaviza's only real 'sight' (apart from the wobbly footbridge spanning the Río Chucunaque), the ruined Fort of St Geronimo, built by the Spanish to keep…
Isla Colón
Playa El Istmito, also called Playa La Cabaña, is the closest beach to Bocas town (2.5km away), but as it's on Bahía Sand Fly the chitras (sand flies)…
Panama City
At the end of Isla Flamenco, this complex contains a two-story shopping center, a marina, a cruise-ship terminal and a number of restaurants and bars. At…
Panamá Province
This island off Taboga’s northeast coast contains an English cemetery and a monument erected by the Pacific Steamship Company, which had its headquarters…
Basilica Mayor San Juan Bautista
Coclé Province
Dominating the central plaza, this 'major basilica' (a title bestowed on certain Roman Catholic cathedrals) stands on the site of an original 16th-century…
Coclé Province
This renovated museum housed in a beautiful blue-and-white colonial building is small but does a thorough job examining the history and traditions of…
Iglesia y Convento de La Merced
Panama City
Erected by the Mercedarian friars in the early 17th century, these Panamá Viejo buildings survived the fire that swept the city following privateer Henry…
Bocas del Toro Province
This is a lush cloud forest covering more than 167,000 hectares set high in the Talamanca mountains. There are three trails maintained by MiAmbiente in…
Panama Canal
North past the Miraflores Locks, the Pedro Miguel Locks can be seen from the highway to Gamboa. One hundred meters beyond the locks there’s a parking…
Isla Colón
Further up the coast from Playa El Istmito and Sand Dollar Beach is Playa Punch (or Paunch), which is dangerous for swimming but good for surfing. It's…
Panama City
This esplanade runs along the top of the sea wall built by the Spanish to protect the city. From here, you can see the Puente de las Américas arching over…
Panamá Province
Located within the Parque Nacional Soberanía, this Emberá indigenous community has been receiving visitors for years. You can take cultural tours, watch…
Panamá Province
The beach on the southern side of the peninsula has lovely tan sand and a wilderness backdrop. The area is notorious for stingrays, though, so swim with…
Panama City
In Panamá Viejo, Iglesia de San José belonged to the Augustine order. Of special interest here are the building’s vaulted side chapels, an architectural…
Panamá Province
Right (north) of the pier as you arrive by boat, Taboga's main beach links to the tiny Isla El Morro at low tide by a sandbar.
Panama City
Facing the Plaza Mayor in Panamá Viejo, the Cabildo de la Ciudad was built by one of the city’s wealthiest citizens, Francisco Terrín, in the early 17th…
Darién Province
This Emberá village south of Sambú is worth visiting. Get here by public bus (US$1), which runs along the paved road leading south from town between 6am…
Panama City
The small Afro-Antillean museum has exhibits on the history of Panama’s West Indian community, particularly their work building the railroad and later the…
Panama City
This awkwardly over-restored stone bridge in Panamà Viejo took its name from a nearby slaughterhouse. It marked the beginning of the Camino Real to…
Panama City
The Palacio de las Garzas is named after the great garzas blancas (white herons) that reside here. The president of Panama lives on the upper floor.
Panama City
This neoclassical Casco Viejo building, dating to 1910, houses the modest Museo de Historia de Panamá.
