Panama's Top Tourist Attractions


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Top Tourist Attractions:
Panama Canal  San Blas Archipeligo  Isla Barro Colorado 
 Panama City BoquetteBocas del Toro Principal national parks

is a chain of 365 islands off the Caribbean coast east of Colon. The islands are home to the Cuna, the most sophisticated, independent and politically organized of Panama's three main indigenous groups. The Cunas have their own language and economic system and the women wear traditional dress decorated with molas, intricately stitched appliqued textiles which attract buyers from all over the world. Several airlines (Ansa, Aerotaxi and Transpasa) make the 30-minute flight from Paitilla airport in Panama City to El Porvenir, the principal airport for the islands. It's cheaper to take a merchant ship from Colon but they leave at midnight and the trip takes about eight hours.

, an island in Gatun Lake (the largest section of the canal) is now a biological reserve for scientific research administered by the Smithsonian Institution.
Visits can be arranged with the Smithsonian's office in Ancon. It's a full-day excursion involving an early morning bus ride to Gamboa then a one-hour boat trip to the island. The island has a great variety of plant and animal life, especially monkeys, and the research institute is famous throughout the world.

is one of the great shopping cities of the Americas and many visitors, especially the hordes who arrive from other Central and South American countries just before Christmas, spend their whole time there wandering the extensive shopping precincts, credit cards at the ready.
But there's more to the capital than duty-free. Visit the IPAT (Tourism Institute) office either at the airport or the Atlapa convention center, pick up a free city map and get walking. Highlights include Panama Viejo, the ruins of the first city built by the Spaniards and Parque Natural Metropolitano, a wild tropical forest on a hill behind the city center with monkeys, deer, sloths, iguanas and 200 species of birds.

Boquette is a small mountain village on the slope of the sleeping giant Volcan Baru in the western province of Chiriqui.
This beautiful region is cool and fresh all year round and there are great walks through the fields of coffee, fruit and flowers. Bathing and fishing are popular in the many mountain streams. The nearby 14,300 hectare Volcan Baru National Park has many excellent hiking trails. Boquette is 20 miles from David on a good paved road. Buses leave David every half hour.

, a province in the far northwest of Panama, is famous for the lovely islands of the Bocas del Toro achipeligo and for Bastimentos National Park.
Three species of marine turtles nest on the beaches of the islands and the surrounding coral reefs support an amazing array of marine life and are excellent for snorkeling and diving.
There are daily flights to Bocas del Toro from David and Panama City or you can take a bus from David to Chiriqui Grande and then a ferry to Bocas del Toro.

Principal National Parks

Location: Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro provinces, northwest
Area: 207,000 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 480km
Nearest accommodation: Cerro Punta
A cooperative effort between Panama and Costa Rica, this huge national park contains 12 life zones and protects an enormous diversity of flora and fauna.

Location: Chirirqui Province, west
Area: 14,000 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 473km
Nearest accommodation: Boquete and Cerro Punta
This park contains the dormant Baru volcano, the highest point in Panama at 3,475 meters and is home to a variety of endemic plants at well as the resplendant quetzal which can be seen during April and May.

Location: Bocas del Toro Province, northwest
Area: 13,226 hectares
Distance from Panama City: a one-hour flight or about a day by road and ferry
Accommodation: Hotels on the islands of Colon, Almirante and Changuinola.
Protecting the coastal and marine ecosystems of the Bocas del Toro archipeligo, this park featues pristine white sand beaches and great snorkeling and diving on its coral reefs. Three species of marine turtles nest on the beaches and the waters are home to manatees, lobsters and more than 200 species of tropical fish.

Location: Veraguas Province, west
Area: 270,125 hectares
Distance from Panama City: One-hour charter flight, or 4-hour drive to Puerto Mutis then 3 to 6 hours by boat.
Accommodation: None
This park contains a variety of coastal and marine ecosystems, as well as beautiful scenery and a great diversity of flora and fauna in its virgin forests.

Location: Cocle Province, west central
Area: 6,000 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 180km
Accommodation: Penonome and Aguadulce
This park on the central dividing range is a cloud forest reserve protecting the watersheds of the Bermejo and Marta rivers which flow to the Caribbean and the Blanco, Guabal and Lajas rivers flowing to the Pacific.

Location: Veraguas and Los Santos provinces, southwest corner of Azuero peninsula
Area: 32,557 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 350km
Accommodation: in Las Tablas, Santiago de Veraguas and Chitre.
Remote and hard to get to, this park protects more than 30 endemic plant species and is home to white-tailed deer and ocelots.

Location: Herrera Province, northeast Azuero peninsula
Area: 8,000 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 239km
Accommodation: Chitre and Villa de los Santos
A strange tropical desert and an important 11,000-year-old archaeological site are the main attractions of this park, located in one of the country's driest areas.

Location: Panama and Colon provinces, central
Areas: 22,104 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 25km
Accommodation: Panama City
Located in the watershed of the Panama Canal, this is one of the country's most accessible forest areas. It has several hiking trails and a fantastic variety of plant, animal and bird life. One of the trails includes a section of the old Las Cruces Trail used by the Spanish mule trains taking goods between Panama City and Nombre de Dios.

Location: Panama and Colon provinces, central
Area: 129,000 hectares
Distance from Panama City: 40km