Panama City, Panama Travel Guide & Photography Tips
Why Visit Panama City?
Panama City is one of the most underrated capitals in Central America. Modern skyscrapers rise beside colonial churches, rooftop restaurants overlook the Pacific Ocean, and the world-famous Panama Canal sits only minutes away. Whether you’re interested in history, wildlife, photography, or architecture, Panama City offers one of the most diverse travel experiences in Latin America
Something Fun
- Visit the Panama Canal and watch enormous ships pass through the locks.
- Enjoy rooftop restaurants overlooking the modern skyline.
- Spot sloths, monkeys, toucans, and tropical birds only minutes from downtown.
- Walk the colorful colonial streets of Casco Viejo.
- Watch the sunset from the Amador Causeway.
I spent nearly a week in Panama City, Panama, and it quickly became one of my favorite cities in Central America.
The city somehow manages to combine everything you’d expect from a modern American city—shopping malls, theaters, luxury hotels, rooftop bars with spectacular skyline views—with tropical wildlife and history just minutes away. One moment you’re photographing glass skyscrapers, and the next you’re surrounded by rainforest filled with birds, sloths, and lizards. Or standing in the middle of Spanish ruins. That’s a pretty good combination if you ask me.
One of the biggest surprises was how easy it was to get there. I’m used to marathon flights halfway around the world where I arrive looking like an extra from a zombie movie. (I don’t sleep on airplanes.) Panama is a completely different experience. From Miami it’s only about a three-hour flight with just a one-hour time difference. No jet lag. No spending two days trying to remember what continent you’re on. I was out photographing the city the very first evening and managed to shoot nearly 300 photographs before sunset.
One of those skyline photographs eventually became this loose watercolor demonstration painted during one of my classes in Durham, North Carolina. When I paint architecture, I’m rarely interested in copying every window or every building exactly. I’m far more interested in capturing the feeling of a place. Simplifying shapes, exaggerating color, and letting watercolor behave like watercolor is much more exciting to me than producing a photographic copy.
Skyline watercolor painting of Panama City featuring a colorful cityscape inspired by evening light over the bay.
Parque Natural Metropolitano
The following morning I headed to Parque Natural Metropolitano, just northwest of downtown. I purposely arrived before the gates opened at 9:00 a.m. Wildlife is always more active in the cooler morning hours, and I wanted to beat both the crowds and the tropical heat.
The park didn’t disappoint.
Lizards were everywhere. Bugs were everywhere too—which, fortunately, meant the birds were everywhere. I found colorful spiders, enormous millipedes, butterflies, and eventually my first wild sloth.
Unfortunately, the sloth wasn’t nearly as excited to meet me.
It was perched ridiculously high in a cecropia tree, happily ignoring photographers while eating breakfast. My photographs weren’t exactly National Geographic quality, but sometimes just seeing an animal in its natural habitat is enough.
Sloths don’t appear to have many responsibilities. They eat. They sleep. They occasionally move.
It reminded me of my children.
The only time I ever saw them was when they emerged from their bedrooms to raid the pantry before disappearing again.
After a wonderful morning in the rainforest, I grabbed a taxi back into the city.
The first thing you notice about Panama City is its skyline.
It’s enormous.
Since this trip I’ve visited Tokyo, which completely redefines the word “big,” but Panama City is still the largest skyline you’ll find in Central America. Glass towers seem to stretch forever, and because the city sits beside the bay there are fantastic viewpoints almost everywhere you look.
Speaking of viewpoints…
If you enjoy rooftop bars, Panama City may become one of your favorite cities. There never seemed to be a shortage of places to sit with a drink while watching the sun disappear behind the skyline.
My hotel featured a rooftop infinity pool on the 14th floor overlooking downtown. Finishing the day with a cold beer while watching the lights come on across the city wasn’t exactly a hardship.
Being a travel photographer can be exhausting.
After lunch I wandered back toward the waterfront, taking my time and photographing the skyline from different angles. One of my favorite stops was the Mercado de Mariscos (Fish Market), where colorful fishing boats sit in front of a forest of modern skyscrapers. The contrast between old and new immediately caught my attention and eventually inspired several watercolor paintings.
Purchase the original watercolor batik painting & fine art prints HERE
Purchase prints of this painting HERE
Purchase prints of this painting HERE
Casco Viejo
Later that afternoon I continued into Casco Viejo, also known as San Felipe, the historic heart of Panama City.
If downtown is all steel and glass, Casco Viejo is exactly the opposite.
Narrow colonial streets wind past centuries-old churches, colorful buildings, rooftop restaurants, murals, cafés, and small shops selling traditional handicrafts. The twin towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral dominate the skyline while the Presidential Palace sits quietly overlooking the waterfront.
The light never quite cooperated that afternoon.
Clouds drifted in and out all day, and as a photographer I’m always thinking about the direction and quality of light. Rather than forcing photographs in mediocre conditions, I simply explored the neighborhood and made mental notes of places I wanted to revisit if the sun appeared later in the week.
Sometimes the best photograph is the one you don’t take—yet.
Eventually I grabbed another inexpensive taxi back toward my hotel near the twisting El Tornillo skyscraper.
The day ended exactly as it should have.
A rooftop bar.
A panoramic view of the skyline.
A cold drink.
Being a travel photographer is hard work.
Somebody has to do it.
Day 1: Panama City & Casco Viejo
Day 2: Portobelo & Fort San Lorenzo, Highest Rooftop Bar Central America
Day 3: Birdwatching, Ancon Hill, Sunset Views
Day 4: Indigenous Village, Skyline Photographs
Day 5: Old Panama (ruins), Casco Viejo, Amador Water Views, Parque Metropolitano
Next: Spanish Forts and the former Trump Tower (hah-hah!)
References
Hotels
AC Hotel by Marriott Panama City– Beautiful rooftop infinity pool overlooking city. Walking distance to beach
Sofitel Legend– located in charming colonial Casco Viejo neighborhood
JW Marriott– panorama rooftop views with 4 pools
W Panama– amazing views of downtown buildings
Coffee
You have to be blind to not be able to find coffee in Panama. There are shops all over the place- but not many Starbucks (thank God!). However, since I always go out very early- I usually pack some canned coffee purchased the day before at grocery/convenience store.
Tours
I booked several tours in Panama- one to an indigenous village NE of the city, and a half-day birding expedition (highly recommended).
Travel Guides
Lonely Planet Panama– While I use the internet for tons of research, I also enjoy carrying a real guidebook with me (JIC)
Travel Guide Panama City– focused solely on city and surrounding environs
Flights
I found a cheap flight on:
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Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
(919) 645-8345