Spaniards first hacked a path through the Panamanian jungle in the 1500’s -- seeking the gold and other riches rumored to lie on the Pacific side of the isthmus. By 1856, there was a railroad linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and, in 1914, the Panama Canal.
In about an hour and a half, in Panama City, you can walk past relics of all of those centuries. And, the 21st as well. This is a city where modern glass towers mingle with the ruins of merchants’ mansions that Morgan’s pirates torched in 16 71. Panama’s now a Republic so open to its citizens that the Presidential Palace --- an ornate Spanish-styled mansion originally built in 1673 and reconsructed in 1923 --- can be walked by and photographed at close range by just about anyone.
Panama’s ‘Old City’ is a ‘must-visit’, for sure, with marvelously preserved old churches and muncipal buildings. But there’s also an ‘even-older city’ : Panama la Vieja. This was THE first city; only stone and masonry ruins now, but where Europeans established their first-ever settlement on the Pacific coast, possibly as early as 1519.
Visiting the Canal is also a MUST: We’ll offer some options.
For a ride on the Panama Canal Railway, see "jemery's" journal on Colon.
Quick Tips:
The Avenida Central, a mid-city pedestrian mall, is worth a stroll. Follow the now-abandoned streetcar tracks north from the Old Community.
Via Espana, billed by the tourism magazine in my hotel room as a ‘glittering upscale shopping Mecca’ was, in my opinion, anything but. I saw only a busy, pedestrian-unfriendly traffic artery; yes, there were some multi-storied shops offering name brand goods, but there were also car dealers, banks and finance companies, and other decidedly nonluxe businesses. The del Carmen Church, at the center of the hotel district where Ave. Central ends at Via Espana begins, was a pleasure to look at: Pure white except for some blue and red highlights, but virtually impossible to photograph due to ugly high-tension cables in the foreground.
There ARE hotels here which will likely cost you less than the Radisson I was staying in.
Best Way To Get Around:
Hailed-off-the-street taxis in Panama City are cheap: from U.S. to depending on what zone you’re travelling in. Hotel-provided ‘taxis’ are actually drivers under contract to the hotels (and often driving cars owned by the hotels); you’ll pay considerably more for them but the hotel stands behind their reliability. These drivers normally contract to take you to your destination and then bring you back at an appointed time, waiting with you if necessary.
Except along the waterfront, Panama City is not especially pedestrian-friendly; drivers turning right behind your back can be a serious menace. Still, I was able to walk to many of the places I wanted to go, including the Old Community.