Photo Gallery: 10 Topside Highlights From Panama City

Boat trip through the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a spectacular feat of engineering — all the more so for having been completed nearly 100 years ago in 1914. Check it out from the water on either a full or partial transit of the 50-mile route from Colon to Panama City.

Casco Viejo (or Antiguo)
Reminiscent of Old San Juan, this elegantly crumbling old quarter of the city dates to the late 1600s. Now a UNESCO Heritage Site, it’s undergoing renovations daily, with lovingly restored buildings abutting crumbling shells, and hip wine bars and coffee shops sharing real estate with art shops and churches from the 1670s. An afternoon stroll of the cobblestone streets is a must.

Panama Viejo ruins
For an even older city-within-a-city, check out the ruins of Casco Antiguo, on the eastern edge of downtown. Dating to 1519, the city was the first permanent settlement on the Pacific Ocean, and eventually attained a population of 10,000 people. In 1671, captain Henry Morgan (Captain Morgan of the rum) sacked and burned the city, leaving it the shell of ruins that tourists can visit today. Climb the bell tower of the ruined cathedral for a nice view of the city to the west.

Taboga and Taboguilla Islands
Fourteen miles offshore in the Pacific is Taboga Island, a favorite weekend getaway for urban families, and surrounding the island are some great dive sites. Taboguilla Island nearby is a sandy bottom with rock formations, wherein you’ll see angelfish, lobsters, jacks, mussels and occasional rays.

El Trapiche restaurant
If you want to try local Panamanian fare (and of course you do), this is the place. Try the sampler platter, which comes with ropa vieja, arroz con pollo and all manner of delicious fried starches. Wash it down with a locally brewed Balboa cerveza.

Portobelo diving (fine, it’s not exactly Panama City)
An hour-and-a-half north of Panama City, on the Caribbean coast, is Portobelo, a charming seaside town. Scubapanama has a shop just west of the city, and will take you out to sites like Drake’sIsland or Parche Point, where you’ll see hard coral – somewhat silted over – and of plenty of Caribbean reef fish like angelfish, parrotfish and butterflyfish.

Metropolitan Nature Park
The closest a visitor can get to wild Panama within Panama-City limits is the Metropolitan Nature Park, a 573-acre nature preserve near the famed Panama Canal, and populated with umpteen bird species as well as tapir and caimans. There are four well-marked walking trails

Metropolitan Nature Park
The closest a visitor can get to wild Panama within Panama-City limits is the Metropolitan Nature Park, a 573-acre nature preserve near the famed Panama Canal, and populated with umpteen bird species as well as tapir and caimans. There are four well-marked walking trails

Miraflores Visitor’s Center
After you’ve seen the locks from the inside, go back to check out the fantastic museum at Miraflores. Make sure to buy the full ticket ($8), which entitles its bearer to a visit of the four-story museum’s exhibitions, a short, informative movie, and best of all, to an eye-level view of the gigantic “Panamax” ships transiting the canal from the observation deck outside.

City skyline view from Amador Causeway
Panama City’s skyline has been likened to Miami’s, and the comparison will seem apt when viewed from the vantage of the Amador Causeway, constructed from soil dredged out of the hills during canal construction. Have dinner at Mi Ranchito, another Panamanian fave, and watch the city lights twinkle on the water