Panama City holidays
Panama City holidays at a glance
Panama City is more cosmopolitan than Latin, and it wears that history openly. The original settlement, Panama la Vieja, was a conduit for plundered gold and oriental silks and spices before pirates sacked it and the city was abandoned.
What rose in its place is Casco Viejo, where restored colonial streets now sit alongside cocktail bars and trendy restaurants in one of Central America’s liveliest cultural hubs. Beyond it, a skyscraper-filled modern city hums as a hub of commerce and international trade, linked directly to the canal that gives the country its outsized importance.
That canal is the region’s headline act for good reason. Since opening in 1914, it has transformed global shipping routes, and it remains one of the country’s essential Panama Canal tours experiences – not just an engineering relic but a working waterway you can watch in action.
To its north, Soberanía National Park protects a stretch of dripping tropical rainforest that explodes with wildlife, particularly tropical birds, making it one of the best Panama birdwatching spots in the region.
The Canal Zone also holds hiking trails once used to move looted gold by mule between Panama City and Colón, alongside a railway built to aid the canal’s original construction – a reminder that this landscape has been a crossing point for centuries, long before the canal itself existed.
Why choose Journey Latin America for your holiday to Panama City
We’ve been planning trips to Central and South America for over 45 years, longer than any other UK specialist. Every holiday is built around you by a Travel Expert who has been to the places they recommend, with support from your first enquiry to the day you fly home.
Few places combine historic streets and tropical wildlife quite like Panama City and the Panama Canal.
When to visit Panama City
Panama’s tropical climate means that travel is possible throughout the year. Soberanía National Park offers rewarding wildlife encounters throughout the year.
This is the busiest time in the capital, with plenty of sunshine and close to no rain, although cloud cover is always possible. Temperatures are hot, reaching highs in excess of 30°C. Carnival is in February or March, when the city bursts into life with parades and live music, culminating in the Shrove Tuesday parade.
Like elsewhere in the country, rainfall increases in May and begins tailing off towards the beginning of December. Temperatures remain warm, with at least a few hours of sunshine every day. If you’re lucky enough to be in the capital on 4 November, you’ll witness the spectacular Independence Day parade.
Top Things to do in Panama City
The region offers an exceptional mix of history, culture and wildlife experiences.
Visit the traditional Embera indians who have only been a settled community for seventy years.
Watch giant cargo ships narrowly squeeze through the locks of the world-famous canal linking the two sides of the Americas – an astounding feat of engineering.
Visit the historic core of Panama City to get a glimpse of life pre-canal.
Accommodation in Panama City
Accommodation ranges from luxury city hotels and restored colonial properties to rainforest lodges positioned close to wildlife-rich areas.
Many properties offer convenient access to both the Panama Canal and the attractions of Panama City.
A first class contemporary property offering slick service and top-of-the-range facilities in the heart of Panama City.
Central Hotel Panama is a historic Spanish-influenced hotel refreshed with contemporary amenities right on the main square in Panama City’s Casco Viejo.
A former Journey Latin America tour leader, Sally spent 7 years working, travelling and living throughout Latin America before returning to the UK to help people arrange their own adventures to this wonderful destination.
Holidays to Panama City
Group Panama City Tours
Our group tours follow expertly designed, well-planned routes with an experienced local guide throughout. Prefer to keep it to your own party? Book the same trips privately for four or more.
Alción: Central America Discovery
Places visited: Panama City · Boquete and the Chiriquí Highlands · Caribbean coast · Monteverde and the cloud forest · Ometepe Island · Granada · Leon · Gulf of Fonseca and Eastern El Salvador · Suchitoto · Copan · Antigua and the highlands
22 days from £4,174
Tailor-Made Panama City Tours
Prefer to travel on your own terms? We’ll build a trip around your dates, your pace and the things you most want to see – whether that’s a first run at Machu Picchu, a family adventure mixing history and wildlife, or a food-focused journey through Lima and the Sacred Valley. Our Travel Experts can help shape it with you.
Signature Costa Rica and Panama Coast: Pacific route
Places visited: San Jose, central highlands and central valleys · Osa Peninsula · Boquete and the Chiriquí Highlands · Pacific Coast of Panama · Panama City
14 days from £3,800
Signature Panama: Canal, wildlife and beach
Places visited: Panama City · Boquete and the Chiriquí Highlands · Bocas del Toro Islands
12 days from £3,200
FAQs about visiting Panama City
Panama City is one of the most popular destinations, and there’s plenty to think about before you go. Here, our specialists share their best advice.
- When To Go
Situated well within the tropics, Panama City has a typical tropical climate with high temperatures (over 30°C) all year round. May-Nov is rainy season. The city lies outside the main hurricane belt.
For more detailed information visit our When To Go section.
- Language
Spanish
- Getting Local Currency
Balboa. The national currency is at parity with the US dollar, and only US banknotes are used. (There are some local coins equivalent to US cents). There are a few ATMs in the city where you can use a UK credit or debit card. You may have ask your bank to authorise withdrawals before you leave the UK, amounts may be limited, and vary from bank to bank. Notes can be obtained from exchange houses and also from banks which will supply advances on a debit or credit card. Panamanians are sometimes reluctant to accept US dollar notes of higher denominations.
- Time Difference
GMT -5 hrs.
- Combines With
A couple of days staying in Soberanía National Park, where residents include a large variety of mammals, amphibians and reptiles, as well as a profusion of bird species.
- Getting There
There are flights via US and European hubs, the journey from London takes around taking around 13 hours.
- Key Events
Carnival, Feb-Mar. is celebrated with much gusto in Panama City: costumed revelry, music and dancing culminate in a big Shrove Tuesday parade.
Semana Santa, Easter. Celebrated with religious processions.
Independence Day, 4 Nov. A huge parade through the old city.
Ready to start planning?
Tell us where you want to go, and we’ll take it from there. No obligation, no sales pitch – just a conversation with someone who knows the region inside out.