Panama

Nine-Day Itinerary for Panama City, Boquete, and Bocas del Toro

Either the Panama Canal or a Van Halen song is typically the first thing that comes to mind when you hear mention of Panama. It probably isn’t the most obvious vacation destination. In this post, I will tell you all the reasons that it is totally a vacation destination and the diverse things to see and do while you are there.

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My husband and I recently returned from an 9-day trip to this incredible small-ish country that has played such a significant role in the opening of global trade. Located south of Costa Rica and north of Columbia, Panama is on the isthmus linking Central and South America and made famous by the engineering wonder of the Panama Canal.

Panama is so many different destinations types all-in-one. The Caribbean sea and beaches are to the east, the canal and city are to the west, mountains are to the northwest, and jungle is everywhere! For those living in the US, it is an easy flight from Houston, Atlanta, or Miami and without any serious jet lag concerns since it is in the Eastern Standard Timezone.

Our itinerary was divided between Panama City, the mountains of Boquete, and the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. I loved the mix of typographies and climates. Each of these areas is very different and offers unique activities. If you are more of a mountain person or more of a beach person, this itinerary can certainly be adjusted to spend more/less time in any given region.

Day 1: Panama City, Casco Viejo

The first thing we noticed the second we stepped off the plane was the 78% humidity. Just fair warning! Immediately, we were looking to shed our layers of clothing that we had put on that morning. From the international airport, it was about a 40 minute taxi ride to our hotel in Casco Viejo.

Quick Tip: Yellow cab taxi drivers can be super shady. Cabs are NOT metered. Meaning, when you get in one and are driven to your destination, the driver can quote you anything s/he feels. Do not get in a cab without negotiating and agreeing on the price first. And, be sure to ask if the price is the TOTAL or the price PER RIDER. We learned the hard way. The best way to get around Panama City is by Uber. Despite having to wait for your Uber driver to arrive at your pick-up location, you will know exactly what you will be charged ahead. Also, if you do not speak Spanish, it might be easier to communicate your destination through the Uber app.

We stayed at The American Trade Hotel at the front end of our week in Panama (we stayed at the Sofitel Legend at the end of the week, but more about that later). The American Trade Hotel is a restored landmark building from 1917 that originally housed the American Trade Developing Company, a department store at ground level with apartments on the upper floors. It had fallen into disrepair, but was restored in the early 2000s and transformed into a welcoming property for visitors all over the world.

Above photo: The American Trade Hotel

The floors are tiled with colorful, gorgeous patterns and the room designs are reminiscent of traditional colonial Caribbean. We loved it! We knew we were going to be “roughing it” later in our trip, so we were intentional about starting and ending our time in Panama with a bit of proper luxury. Besides the beautiful design, the location is also ideally situated in the center of the old town, Casco Viejo.

Above photos: The American Trade Hotel

There are several “good areas” to stay in while visiting Panama City. Regardless of where you stay, you will likely still need to take a few Ubers because the key tourist sites are spread out. Casco Viejo was ideal for us because it was also reasonably close to the regional airport that we would be flying out of the next day.

After arriving and checking-in at our hotel, we spent the late-afternoon walking the streets immediately around our hotel. We did not get to see all the key points-of interest, but we knew we would be back at the end of the week to finish our list.

Above photos: Street views in Casco Viejo

Read my complete post on the very best things to see and do in Casco Viejo here.

There are a lot of great restaurant choices, bars, and nightclubs in Casco Viejo. My suggestion would be to look at OpenTable or TripAdvisor for ideas and peruse some menus. We decided to start off our evening plans across the street from our hotel at one of Panama City’s rooftop bars known for the amazing skyline views – CasaCasco. We had beautiful weather, a gorgeous sunset, and all the views, as promised. The Happy Hour crowd was there for the same reason we were – a swanky drink with a view. Later, this place gets quite crowded with the more serious clubbers.

Above photos: CasaCasco Rooftop Bar, Casco Viejo

Our dinner reservations were at Primitivo, a super intimate steak restaurant located next door to to CasaCasco. Our food was delicious and included some complimentary tasting courses, including fried yuca. This side dish looks like steak fries, but they are creamy and healthier. I have since Googled recipe and tracked down the veggie at my local grocery store. I cannot believe I’ve been missing this my whole life!

Above photos: Primitivo Restaurant, Casco Viejo

Day 2: Miraflores Locks, Travel to Boquete

The number one thing to do in Panama City is to see the Panama Canal at the Miraflores Visitors Center! I was curious to see the canal, but was completely blown away by actually watching a ship pass through. The canal is one of the top engineering wonders of the world and the history is fascinating. The main museum for the canal is located in Casco Viejo, but it cannot replace visiting the canal in person.

Above photo: Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal

The best time to watch the ships pass through the canal is between 9:00 – 10:00 am or 3:00 – 5:00 pm. The viewing deck can get a little crowded, but we didn’t have a problem finding a spot.

It is helpful to do a little reading about the canal and how the locks work to raise or lower the ships because you will understand what’s going on as the ships move through. Or, arrive early to watch the IMAX presentation. The staff will let you know when the last ship is coming through so you can make your exit and continue on with the rest of your day. There isn’t a whole lot of activity mid-day when the canal changes direction.

Above photos: Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal

After our morning visit to the Panama Canal, we asked our Uber driver to drop us off at the Mercado de Mariscos, Panama City’s fish and seafood market. Even if you aren’t in the market for fish or ceviche, this is a great market to walk though to see all of the fresh fresh being brought in from the sea.

Above photos: Mercado de Mariscos, Panama City

There is a restaurant adjacent to the market on one side and ceviche food stalls on the other side. The stall workers can get a little aggressive trying to reel you into their seating area. But, take your time walking through the stalls and reading the menu offerings before deciding which one you’d like to order from. We weren’t overly impressed with our lunch, but it was a uniquely Panama City experience for sure!

Above photo: Mercado de Mariscos, Panama City

We had an afternoon flight to the city of David. So, we rushed back to grab our bags from our hotel and Uber’ed to the regional airport. Word to the wise, it is not necessary to arrive two hours early for your flight. We were there wayyyyy early. If you get there 30 minutes prior to boarding, you won’t have to sit around forever like we did.

Above photos: Aerial view of Panama City (left) and the mountains east of David (right)

The David airport is located about 45 minutes west of Boquete (pronounced boh-KET-ay). You can either rent a car here or have a cab drive you. We took a cab. However, if there was one thing I would change about this trip, it would have been to rent a car. There is no Uber service in Boquete and the cab drivers all use the What’s App app for ride requests. We found the whole thing a bit tricky and stressful, even though Boquete is a very safe and tourist-friendly little town.

Above photos: Boquete Town Center

Boquete is not a fancy place with luxury hotels. However, it is an adventure-seekers paradise! So, come ready to get into the action and take in all the natural surroundings. We stayed at the Boquete Garden Inn Hotel just outside of the main drag. The property was gorgeous. Really, really gorgeous! True to it’s name, the gardens were so pretty and very well cared for. The staff has thoughtfully planted the trees and flowers to attract winged creatures of all kinds. We loved sitting on the terrace at breakfast and watching all of the birds visit the feeders.

Above photos: Boquete Garden Inn Hotel

Our first dinner in Boquete was at Ngadri Cocina Panamena. This restaurant was such a surprise! Tucked away down a quiet little side street, it is rather unassuming from the outside. We were seated on the patio, open to the fresh air and beautiful park-like gardens. The menu offered Panamanian dishes made with locally-sourced ingredients, as well as some interesting cocktails (yes, of course we did!).

Above photos: Ngadri Cocina Panamena

I don’t know how common it is, but the restaurant also had live entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed the young dancers who performed a series of Panamanian folk dances in traditional costumes. They were precious and so fun to watch!

Above photos: Young folk dance performers at Ngadri Cocina Panamena

Day 3: Boquete, Coffee Farm Tour, Hanging Bridges Hike

There are so many great adventure tours available from Boquete. I highly recommend visiting the following sites to peruse the options. Since we only had one full day, we had to make some tough choices.

• Boquete Outdoor Adventures
• Beyond Adventure Tours
• Adventures Panama
• Tree Trek Boquete

If PTO days were a non-issue, we would have stayed at least another day to do some other guided hikes or the white water rafting. Our top choices were a coffee farm tour and the Hanging Bridges Hike with Tree Trek.

There are a number of different coffee farms and coffee tours to choose from. After doing a bit of research, we decided on Finca Dos Jefes. The owner, Richard, is an ex-pat who not only produces some of the best coffee in the region, but he is also advocating for serious changes in coffee farming economics in the region. He has developed a passion for coffee hand-in-hand with a genuine care for the indigenous people of Panama who own and work the farms. We learned so much from Richard in the morning we spent with him. The nicest guy and the most informative time spent.

Above photos: Coffee Farm Tour at Cafes de la Luna, Finca dos Jefes

We had a quick lunch in Boquete in between tours. Next up: the Hanging Bridges Hike with Tree Trek. These folks will pick you up in Boquete in their little safari bus and give you a ride up to their adventure park. The hike is a circuit of 6 trails combined with 6 suspension bridges of 4.5 kilometers of travel over the tropical cloud forest of Panama.

Our guide, Louis, was fantastic! There is no way we would have been able to identify the flora and fauna on our own. We even saw a quetzal peeking out of his nest – an incredible sighting of this rare and elusive bird.

I highly recommend the Hanging Bridges Hike. It had been described to us as a “nice nature walk.” But, it was a bit more challenging than that. Thankfully, we paused several times throughout the hike so we could catch our breath and rest our legs.

Above photos: Hanging Bridges Hike

Our second dinner in Boquete was at Butcher Chophouse, at the recommendation of our hotel. The food here was so good! Our steaks were perfectly cooked. They brought out a flight of six different types of salt with our steaks. I know this sounds weird, but I love my different types of salt – pink, black, flake, sea, etc. So, I was in heaven seasoning up each bite with a different type of salt. Butcher is a cozy, intimate restaurant with rustic decor and wonderful ambiance. Great dining experience here to end our stay in Boquete.

Above photos: Butcher Chophouse

Day 4: Shuttle to Bocas del Toro, Bocas Town, Bastimentos Night Hike

For the next four days of our trip, we were headed to the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, which is located off the northeastern shore Panama, just slightly south of Costa Rica. There are a few ways to travel to Bocas. (1) You can go back to David and take a short flight on Air Panama to Bocas Town on Isla Colon, (2) You can drive a rental car or hire a private transfer, or (3) You can take a group shuttle. Each of these has pro’s and con’s. We determined that the fastest and easiest would be the shuttle.

The Hello Travel Panama Shuttle to Bocas del Toro is a very safe and popular way to travel from Boquete. The shuttle leaves in the morning around 8:00 am and takes you to the water taxi at Almirante. From there, you and your luggage are loaded on to a boat to Bocas Town on Isla Colon. The whole thing costs $30 per person and takes about 4 hours.

The shuttle is a comfortable, air conditioned mini bus. It stops at a rest stop mid way so you can use bathroom facilities, grab a snack, and stretch your legs. The drive winds through the mountains and up-and-down the hills. Its not super fun, but it gets you there. In hindsight, I wish I had downloaded a podcast or something.

Towards the end of the shuttle ride, we passed through banana plantations and tropical fruit farms. It was really interesting. The people here live very differently. In this part of the world, you won’t come across many of the things we, as Americans, take for granted. Luxury resorts, air conditioning, high tech devices, paved roads, etc. It is eye opening and humbling. That being said, you are in the jungle on the far west side of the Caribbean Sea and will see things that are so amazing. Kinda makes you wonder who is really living the dream because, dang, it’s incredible!

Above photos: The ferry building in Almirante (left) and the water views from the ferry (right)

Above photos: Arrival in Bocas Town

Once we arrived at the docks in Bocas Town, we had to make our way to Bocas Docks where we would later meet our hotel’s water taxi transfer. We were able to store our luggage there while we spent the next few hours walking around Bocas Town and grabbing some lunch.

Bocas Town is a bit rough. The buildings are not in the best shape. The roads are kind of a mess. But, it is very safe and everyone is having a great time! This is a popular place for backpackers, adventure seekers, beach bums, surfers, and people who want to have an authentic jungle experience.

Above photos: Bocas Town, Isla Colon

The main street in Bocas Town has some restaurants, bars, and surf shops. It is definitely not a shopping destination, but if you’ve forgotten something from home or want to pick-up a souvenir, you can find it here in town. You can also find quite a few water taxi and tour operators here that will take you anywhere you want to go throughout the islands.

Above photos: Bocas Town, Isla Colon

Above photos: Bocas Docks

At 4:00 pm our water taxi for La Loma Jungle Lodge met us at Bocas Docks to take us to our home for the next two nights on the island of Bastimentos. As we passed by mangrove islands and approached the dock for La Loma, we immediately knew we were in a very special place. It was surreal and beyond what I imagined! It is truly jungle and very removed from everything. It is impossible to not completely unplug and disengage from whatever hustle & bustle you left behind.

Above photo: Approaching the La Loma Jungle Lodge dock in Bahia Honda Bay

Above photo: View from the dock

Above photo: Path from the dock to the lodge

La Loma Jungle Lodge is an amazing 55 acre property on Isla Bastimentos that includes a chocolate and permaculture farm and is surrounded by tropical forest and groves of fruit trees. The main lodge is located on the highest point on the island, with open air bungalows scattered around it.

Above photos: La Loma Jungle Lodge

We were just in awe! This is hands-down the most unique property I have ever stayed at. The experience of staying in our treehouse bungalow lounging in our hammocks while white-faced capuchin monkeys swung by was unmatched. Surprisingly, it was not that buggy. We had no complaints about mosquitos or anything unpleasant. The most startling thing that happened was we had a monkey jump on the roof of our bungalow around 3 am and freaked us out a little. But, honestly, it was all part of the adventure of sleeping in the jungle. Loved every minute of it!

Above photos: La Loma Jungle Lodge

After dinner on our first night, a local guide, Roger, took us around the property for a night hike to see some of the nocturnal animals that live on the island. We saw a Panamanian night monkey, a couple Central American woolly opossums, a baby spectacled caiman, a conejo pintado (painted rabbit), banded armadillo, Tome’s Spiny rats, leaf cutter ants, tarantulas, and king toads. Those were just the night animals!

Day 5: Bastimentos, Permaculture Farm Tour, Red Frog Beach, Phytoplankton Outing

We were expecting to have trouble sleeping in the middle of the jungle. But, aside from some monkeys jumping on our roof, we slept so well. The night air was perfect. When we woke up the next morning, there was a tray of coffee and baked goods outside our door and this view:

Above photo: Morning view at La Loma Jungle Lodge

I’ve never had such a hard time getting out of bed. We barely made it to breakfast! We had a morning tour of the permaculture and chocolate farm scheduled with the main caretaker, Mr. Kelly, who has been living there for over 30 years and was part of the original development and planting of the farm.

As we walked through the farm, we were able to pull fruit right off the trees and try them there on the spot. We learned so much and were able to taste so many tropical fruits that I have never even heard of.

Above photos: Permaculture Farm Tour at La Loma Jungle Lodge

The chocolate farm is so interesting. We learned about cacao farming and the process of making chocolate. It was very educational and a great way to spend the morning. Mr. Kelly was an amazing guide – and also quite funny!

Above Photos: Cacao Farm at La Loma Jungle Lodge

For the afternoon, we headed over to one of Bastimentos’ beautiful beaches, Red Frog Beach. There are several great beaches on Bastimentos. Probably the most popular beaches are Wizard (great for surfers), Red Frog, and Polo (named after its most famous resident). There is a jungle path that you can hike from Red Frog to Polo, but we did not have time. One thing to keep in mind is that Red Frog has a couple bars and restaurants so you can easily spend a bit of time there. Polo, on the other hand, does not have any commercial businesses. However, if you run into Polo, he has been known to fry up fish for visitors!

Above photo: Entrance to the Red Frog Beach shortcut

We arrived at the Red Frog Beach shortcut by water taxi and paid $5 for the entrance fee. Close to the entrance we had our first sloth sighting! These critters are super hard to spot and photograph because they tend to hang out at the very tops of the trees. They kind of look like a ball of moss, but if you’re lucky, you’ll spot some movement and know its one of these guys.

Above photo: Sloth spotted in a tree near Red Frog Beach

Red Frog Beach is a nice beach and the water is gorgeous – perfectly clear and a comfortable swimming temperature. It is important to keep an eye on the surf flags put out by the beach patrol though. During periods of rough or dangerous surf you may need to head in. This is true of many of the beaches in Bocas del Toro, which can have strong currents and increased drowning risk.

Above photos: Red Frog Beach

One of the most extraordinary things to experience while in Bocas del Toro is a phytoplankton tour on a moonless night. As luck would have it, we were there in mid-April during the new moon and had a completely dark sky — ideal conditions for being able to discover the incredible bioluminescence of plankton. Our guide picked us up at our dock and took us to a couple locations where it was really, really dark. The plankton sparkles when the water moves. It literally looks like diamonds in the water. You can jump out of the boat and swim with the light of the plankton all around you. It was just a wild and mystifying showcase of nature! The only unfortunate thing was not being able to photograph or video this experience. Believe me, we tried! The plankton just did not show up in the videos and there was too much movement in the boat to take a low-light long-exposure photo. You’ll have to take my word for it — it was the coolest thing ever!

Day 6: Bastimentos Marine Park and Bat Cave, Isla Colon

Woke up in paradise again and headed down to the dock for our final tour on Bastimentos. This morning we planned for our guide to take us through the stunning Bastimentos National Marine Park and Bat Cave. The first part of our journey navigated through narrow mangrove passages up the beautiful Bahia Honda creek.

Above photos: Mangroves in Bahia Honda creek

When we arrived at the Marine Park, we stepped off the boat and proceeded on foot through an abandoned cacao farm and thick jungle until coming to the cave opening.

Above photos: Bastimentos National Marine Park

The cave was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Honestly, I was glad we were wearing water booties and gloves because it was also a little bit gross. The cool factor outweighed the gross factor though:) Hundreds of bats were hanging from the top of the cave and a few were flying around. The water came up to our knees in some parts, but is was mostly akin to sloshing through a puddle. If you keep walking into the cave, the water will eventually be chest-deep before opening up to a hidden pool with a mini waterfall.

Above photo: Bats hanging from the top of the cave

We spent the last part of our tour on a “sloth hunt” with our guide, who was able to spot these guys so much better than we could. Tough to photograph, but I did manage to get a few good shots of a sloth hanging low in one of the mangrove trees.

Above photos: A sloth in a mangrove tree (top) and an over-the-water bungalow (bottom)

I have never been more sad to leave a place. Our experience at La Loma Jungle Lodge exceeded our expectations in every possible way. It was not easy to get to, but it was worth the effort! Alas, the La Loma water taxi took us back to Bocas Docks on Isla Colón for us to continue on with the next part of our adventure.

Since we had already spent time in Bocas Town, we immediately cabbed it up to our Airbnb on the main part of the island. There are hotels on Ilsa Colón, but the Airbnb options are pretty amazing and affordable. Our little garden bungalow had an outdoor kitchen, which was great for our morning breakfast and a few snacks we picked up at the local grocery store.

Above photos: Bocas Garden Lodge booked on Airbnb

We went down to Skully’s to find some dinner and check on our ATV reservation for the next day. The staff offered to let us take our ATVs early, which was just amazing since we had a couple errands to run and needed transportation. If you know how to ride a motorcycle or can drive a manual stick shift, you’ll have no trouble learning to operate the ATVs. We got a quick tutorial and we were off!

Day 7: Isla Colón, Starfish Beach, Playa Bluff

I don’t think we ever slept late while in Bocas del Toro. Every morning, there was a chorus of birds and other jungle noises standing in for our alarm clock. Since we kept our evening activities on the early side, this wasn’t a problem. If you do like to sleep late, ear plugs are a must!

Since I was up first on this particular morning, I went out to our kitchenette, made coffee, and watched for birds. Lo and behold, we had a tree full (FULL!) of toucans!! You know, the Fruit Loops guys! They were quite a distance away (too far for my camera), but clearly toucans with their bright yellow bills dotting the tree branches like Christmas lights. So cool:)

We got an early start with our drive up to Boca del Drago on the northwestern tip of Isla Colón. There is one main road that cuts through the center of the island through the Nature Preserve and up to the north shore. It could hardly be called a road though. More like a dirt rollercoaster. There is a lot of construction in progress on the road, so hopefully it will be a much more pleasant drive in the future. I completely trashed my Birkenstocks and was covered in filth by the time we reached our destination. This complaint aside, we had the best time! Riding the ATVs was great fun!!

Above photo: ATV Rentals from Skully’s Flying Pirates

On the way up, we stopped by the Plastic Bottle Village. This castle-like structure was made from 40,000 plastic bottles and consists of four levels. It is an interesting and impressive stop on the way up to the beaches. And props to the creator, Robert Bezeau, who has managed to demonstrate to the world how to up-cycle plastic waste on such a grand scale.

Above photo: Plastic Bottle Village

When we reached Boca del Drago, we parked our ATVs and continued on foot through the jungle path to Starfish Beach. It was about a 15 minute walk and very beautiful. We passed a couple Howler monkeys who watched us from their perch in the trees.

Above photos: The jungle path to Starfish Beach

Starfish Beach is not a very big beach, but I thought is was the prettiest and most swimmable on the entire island. True to the name, there were starfish everywhere. The entire sea floor was littered with starfish. We had to be careful walking so we didn’t step on any. Since the water was crystal clear and very shallow in places, we were able to get a very close look at these beautiful creatures. Of course, as everyone will remind you, do not touch the starfish.

Above photos: Starfish Beach

By late morning, the starfish were gone. They come in and out with the tides. If you aren’t there early, it is possible you’ll miss them. We stayed in the area for lunch. There are a few restaurants along Starfish Beach and also up by Playa Boca del Drago. Some places only take cash.

Above photos: Lunch at Yarisnori

After lunch, we flagged down a water taxi (they hang out near the restaurants) to take us out to Bird Island. Okay – this was my favorite thing on Isla Colon. I have never seen anything so Jurrassic Park-ish in my life. It is crraaaaazzzy cool! Bird Island is a rocky formation covered with vegetation in the middle of the sea that serves as a bird refuge for many different species of rare tropical birds. You can see terns, frigates, pelicans, swallows and gannets.

An entire round trip to Bird Island will take roughly 30 minutes depending on how much time you spend out at the island. You can’t get off the boat and walk around on the island, but you can drift in your boat and/or anchor there.

Above photos: Bird Island Sanctuary, Bocas del Toro

I wish we would have stayed up in Boca del Drago longer. What we didn’t realize at the time was that this was really the best beach area on the whole island and our best chance to enjoy a day swimming in the sea. Que sera, sera. We hopped back on our ATVs and drove back down the length of the island with a quick stop at La Gruta to see the bat cave.

We were the only people at La Gruta when we were there. We noticed a couple collection boxes for folks to drop in a few dollars for the entrance fee. There is a path leading to the cave, but it seems like it would be easy to miss. We didn’t feel comfortable going inside unguided, so we just admired it from the outside.

Above photo: La Gruta Bat Cave

We made one other stop en route to make a wardrobe adjustment and as we were standing there on the side of the road, we looked into the trees and saw a bazillion Howler monkeys. It must have been monkey happy hour or something because we could not even count them all. We just stood there gazing into the branches, furiously taking photos and videos while they looked back at us. After this surprise, I felt completely and totally satisfied with our monkey sightings. My entire Panama critter wish list was fully checked off.

Above photos: Howler monkeys

After a quick pit stop back at our garden bungalow, we took Bluff Beach Road (a.k.a. the Jungle Highway) up the east side of the island towards Playa Bluff. Playa Bluff is a beautiful and very long beach. However, this is absolutely not a beach for swimming. The waves break very close to the shore creating strong rip tides. We took no chances and did not venture out further than ankle-deep water.

Above photos: Playa Bluff

We did, however, find a very cozy little beach bar and got ourselves comfortable with a couple drinks while watching the waves crash. Ahhhhh…..paradise!

Above photos: Bom Bom Beach Bar at Island Plantation, Bocas del Toro

Day 8: Isla Colón, Travel to Panama City

We woke up the next morning to the sounds of a family of Howler monkeys making such a racket. I suppose if you live there, you get used to it. Maybe? Hopefully? We decided to stay put at our bungalow for the morning and just enjoy our coffee on the terrace while bird watching and re-organizing our suitcases.

We had a short flight on Panama Air back to Panama City to pick up where we left off about a week earlier. However, we decided to try out another hotel property, the relatively new Sofitel Legend.

This hotel is gorgeous! After rolling around in the dirt and sand for days, I cannot even begin to tell you how great it was to step into a bit of refinement. The welcoming staff, the beautiful rooms, and epic views were exactly what we needed!

Above photos: The Sofitel Legend Hotel, Casco Viejo

The Sofitel Legend is located on the far east side of Casco Viejo in Panama City near many of the historic landmarks that we had yet to check off our list. After dropping off our bags and a few deep breaths, we were out the door again to squeeze as much sightseeing and shopping into our last 24 hours in Panama.

Read my complete post on the very best things to see and do in Casco Viejo here.

Our final dinner plans were at Caleta, located inside the Sofitel Legend. The restaurant was very pretty and the menu had so many great choices. I think my favorite part was not having to walk farther than the elevator — we were all about convenience at this point!

Above photos: Caleta Restaurant inside the Sofitel Legend Hotel

After dinner, we got our party on up at Ammi, the rooftop bar. It was a pretty swanky place to see and be seen – even though it was just a Thursday night. Several drinks later, we finally called it a night. Good times!

Above photos: Ammi Bar inside the Sofitel Legend Hotel

Day 9: Casco Viejo, Departure

Be sure to check out the little bakery adjacent to the hotel lobby, Cafe Vera, if you stay there. I slipped down to this place to grab our morning coffees and croissants. It reminded me of a French patisserie.

Above photos: Cafe Vera located inside the Sofitel Legend Hotel

We had the morning to finish up a little souvenir shopping to take back for the kids. There are gift and souvenir shops scattered all over Casco Viejo. Most of them were selling very similar types of items. I ended up buying a beaded headband and applique clutch for myself. Jason bought a hat. And, we picked up some chocolate and t-shirts for the kids. It wasn’t a big shopping destination. For us, Panama was all about the incredible experiences in nature, seeing the wild animals and birds, and trying so many new types of foods.

Above photos: Shopping in Casco Viejo

If you were to ask me if I thought Panama was worth visiting, the answer would be an emphatic “YES!” Panama was a very worth-while destination for us. The key is being prepared for a little “figure it out as you go”. The county is not as developed as many other destinations around the world. Things are a bit less polished and rough around the edges, but also make the experience very authentic. And, boy, they could sure use your tourism dollars.

Thank you for reading my post! Please feel free to add friendly comments or questions below!