My Panama Itinerary: The Start of My 8-Country Central America Trip

Panama was the first stop of one of the craziest trips I’ve ever done: traveling through all eight countries in Central America in just three weeks.

A friend who has traveled to almost every country in the world was planning the trip and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, despite the fact that there was basically no plan. The only thing we knew was the date we needed to reach Mexico because he had a flight from there. Everything else would be figured out along the way.

We ended up starting in Panama City simply because we found a cheap last-minute direct flight from Madrid. From there, we traveled to Bocas del Toro, crossed into Costa Rica and kept making our way north.

So this Panama itinerary is exactly how that first part of the trip went: where we stopped, how long we stayed and how we got from Panama City to Bocas del Toro before crossing into the next country.

My Panama Route

Our route through Panama looked like this:

Panama City
1 night + the following day exploring the city and sorting out our bus tickets.

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Night bus from Panama City to Almirante
You can’t really book these tickets online, so we went to the bus station during the day and bought them there.

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Almirante to Bocas del Toro
We arrived in Almirante in the morning, walked to the boat dock and took a small boat across to Bocas del Toro.

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Bocas del Toro
About 1.5 days. We arrived in the morning, spent that day and the following morning there, then left the next afternoon.

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Bocas del Toro back to Almirante
We took the boat back to the mainland.

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Almirante to the Panama–Costa Rica border
We hitchhiked our way toward the border.

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Costa Rica
After crossing the border, we found a bus that took us to Puerto Viejo.

How This Panama Trip Started

A friend asked if I wanted to travel through Central America with him, and I said yes.

That was basically the entire plan.

We had three weeks to cross all eight countries in Central America, and the only fixed thing was that we needed to reach Mexico in time for his flight.

When we found a cheap last-minute direct flight from Madrid to Panama City, Panama became the starting point.

And immigration pretty much exposed the whole situation immediately. The lady asked me the usual questions: what was my job? I’d quit. Where was I staying? I didn’t know. How many days was I staying in Panama? Also didn’t know.

It was funny afterwards, but standing there at immigration I was slightly panicking because I genuinely had almost nothing useful to tell her.

My Panama Itinerary

Stop 1: Panama City

We landed in Panama City in the early evening with no accommodation booked, so one of the first things we did after arriving was open Booking and look for somewhere cheap to sleep.

We ended up booking Casa Areka, where we paid about €10 each for a dorm bed for the night. It was basic but completely fine for what we needed, and the area immediately surprised me because Panama City was much more modern than I had expected, with huge buildings everywhere around us.

→ Read my full Casa Areka review

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hostel and headed out to explore Panama City.

Unfortunately, this was also when we discovered that visiting during rainy season without checking the weather beforehand probably wasn’t our smartest decision. It poured for a big part of the day, which definitely didn’t help my impression of the city.

We spent most of our time walking around, seeing Casco Viejo and getting away from the main tourist streets whenever we could. We also found Fonda San Felipe completely by accident after seeing a line of locals outside. It was exactly the kind of place we normally look for when traveling: prepared local food, pick what you want, sit down and eat. I paid around $6 for my food and a Coke.

Overall, Panama City felt a little boring to me, especially compared with what was still coming on this trip. I was glad we saw it, but one day was enough for me

→ Read: Is Panama City Worth Visiting?

At some point during the day, we also needed to figure out how the hell we were getting to Bocas del Toro. You can’t really sort the Panama City–Almirante night bus online, so we went to the bus station and bought our tickets there for that evening.

If I did Panama City again now, I’d still only give the city itself about one day, but I’d plan that day differently. I’d spend the morning around Casco Viejo and then do a Panama Canal, Monkey Island and wildlife tour in the afternoon rather than spending the entire day wandering around the city.

→ See the Panama City in One Day itinerary I’d follow now

And if you’re deciding where to stay before doing the same route, I’ve also put together my picks for the best hostels in Panama City and best hotels in Panama City.

That evening, we got our bags and headed back to the bus station for the overnight journey to Almirante.

Getting From Panama City to Bocas del Toro

We knew we wanted to go to Bocas del Toro next, but we hadn’t booked any transport in advance.

During the day in Panama City, we went to the bus station and bought tickets for the night bus to Almirante. This isn’t really a route you can easily sort out online, so we just went there in person and bought the tickets for that evening.

That night, we got on the bus in Panama City and traveled overnight to Almirante.

We arrived the following morning, got off the bus and walked to the boat dock. From there, we took one of the small boats across to Bocas del Toro.

So the journey was basically:

Panama City → night bus to Almirante → walk to the boat dock → boat to Bocas del Toro

The bus doesn’t take you directly to Bocas del Toro, so Almirante is where you switch from land to boat.

We arrived in Bocas in the morning, which meant we still had almost the entire day ahead of us.

Stop 2: Bocas del Toro

We arrived in Bocas del Toro in the morning and stayed for one night, giving us about a day and a half before leaving for Costa Rica the following afternoon.

We stayed at Hostal Hansi in Bocas Town, close to where the boats arrive. We got a private room for $28 total, so $14 each, and there was also a shared kitchen where we could cook and save some money.

Bocas del Toro was one of the places we had actually been looking forward to in Panama, so despite having very little time, we wanted to see more than just Bocas Town.

My friend went off to do a snorkeling or diving activity while I stayed firmly out of the deep water. Later, we rented a bike for a few hours and explored Isla Colón, with him driving and me very happily sitting on the back.

That ended up being my favorite part of Bocas. We went from beach to beach around the island, and some of them were so empty that it was literally just the two of us there.

I liked Bocas del Toro and its Caribbean island atmosphere, although it wasn’t one of my favorite island destinations I’ve ever visited. It was more expensive than I expected, some of the beaches had really rough water, and I personally wouldn’t travel all the way there just for one day.

→ Read: Is Bocas del Toro Worth Visiting?

If I went back, I’d stay longer. Around two full days would be enough for me, while three would make more sense if you want to explore other islands or do more boat and water activities.

→ Read: How Many Days in Bocas del Toro Do You Need?
→ See my Bocas del Toro itinerary

The following afternoon, we checked out of Hostal Hansi, took the boat back to Almirante and started making our way toward the Costa Rica border.

→ Read: The 5 Best Hostels in Bocas del Toro, Panama

→ Read: The 6 Best Hotels in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Leaving Panama and Continuing to Costa Rica

The next afternoon, we left Bocas del Toro and continued north toward Costa Rica.

First, we took the boat back to Almirante. From there, we somehow managed to hitchhike our way toward the Panama–Costa Rica border instead of taking a normal bus like sensible people.

Once we reached the border, we crossed into Costa Rica on foot and then had to figure out the next part of the journey.

There wasn’t some perfectly organized transfer waiting for us on the other side. We found a bus that was heading to Puerto Viejo, got on, and that became our first stop in Costa Rica.

So that part of the route was:

Bocas del Toro → boat to Almirante → hitchhike to the border → cross into Costa Rica → bus to Puerto Viejo

And just like that, Panama was done and we were already moving into country number two of the trip.

How Many Days Did I Spend in Panama?

We spent about three days in Panama in total.

We arrived in Panama City in the early evening, stayed one night and explored the city the following day. That night, we took the bus to Almirante, arrived in Bocas del Toro the next morning and spent about a day and a half there before leaving for Costa Rica the following afternoon.

That sounds ridiculously fast, but we had three weeks to travel through all eight countries in Central America by land and needed to reach Mexico by a specific date for my friend’s flight.

There was no way we could spend the same amount of time everywhere, so we had to prioritize the countries where we wanted to slow down a little. Panama was basically our starting point, while Nicaragua and Guatemala were two of the countries where we ended up spending more time.

Was three days enough to properly see Panama? No. But for this particular trip and the route we were trying to complete, it worked.

What I’d Change About My Panama Itinerary

If I did the trip again, I wouldn’t add more days just to stay in Panama City. I’d still give the city itself about a day.

What I would change is how much of the rest of Panama we saw.

I’d probably add San Blas. Island hopping there sounds much more like something I’d enjoy, and it’s one of the places I wish we’d managed to include.

I’d also be interested in visiting an Embera village and waterfall, which would give me a completely different experience from Panama City and Bocas del Toro.

And I’d give Bocas del Toro another day. We only had about a day and a half, and although we managed to explore a little, we were basically arriving and then already thinking about how to get to Costa Rica.

So if I traveled through Panama again, I’d still keep Panama City fairly short and I’d still include Bocas del Toro. I’d just slow the whole thing down a little and add more of Panama between arriving in the country and crossing the border into Costa Rica.

My Panama Itinerary: Final Thoughts

Panama was a very fast start to an even faster trip, but I’m glad we included both Panama City and Bocas del Toro before continuing into Costa Rica.

If I did it again, I’d build my Panama itinerary to give it a little more time, but I’d still keep the same general route and continue north from there.