Immerse yourself in Panama's rich history, natural beauty, and gastronomic wonder during this 6-day Panama City vacation. Begin at the UNESCO-listed ruins of Panamá Viejo with your guide shortly after dawn, tracing the colonial roots of the former capital of Panama, destroyed in 1671. Enjoy spectacular views from atop the 16th-century Metropolitan Cathedral before visiting the Old Panama City Museum and exploring landmarks like the Flat Arch, Las Bovedas, and the French Plaza. Conclude your historical exploration of Panama’s capital with an engaging culinary journey led by local chefs. Learn how to prepare authentic Panamanian dishes like the famous sancocho de pollo, pacones, and octopus ceviche.
Continue your Panama City discovery with a private guided boat tour of the biodiverse Panama Canal. Begin your expedition at the town of Gamboa before exploring rainforest-clad islands with three-toed sloths lounging in the trees, ospreys hunting for peacock bases, white-faced capuchin, keel-billed toucans, snail kites, mantled howler monkeys, and more. Make your way to the Miraflores Locks, where you'll learn about the canal's history and marvel at the engineering feat.
Enjoy an early morning drive across the Isthmus of Panama to the Caribbean province of Colon for uninterrupted views of local locks reinvented to handle larger cargo ships. Pass through an old military ground to the UNESCO-listed Fort San Lorenzo, a Spanish bastion fortifying the river entrance to Las Cruces Trail to Panama City, built at the mouth of the Charges River and later used by gold miners travelling to California during the later half of the 19th-century. Advance through the lush San Lorenzo National Park rainforest, searching for sloths, monkeys, coatimundis, toucans, and more. Return to Panama City for two days of leisure, concluding your Panama adventure.
