Panama City was the first stop of my three-week trip through Central America, and if I am being very accurate, we did not exactly arrive with a master plan. We landed at night with no accommodation booked, took public transportation from the airport, eventually found our way to Casa Areka, spent one full day exploring the city, and that same evening got on a night bus toward Bocas del Toro. So my first Panama City experience was fast, cheap and slightly chaotic. I have separate posts covering things like where to stay, safety, how many days you need and exactly what I would do with one day. This Panama City…

Panama City was the first stop of my three-week Central America backpacking trip, and for most of that trip our budget was around €20 a day. Some days we spent a little more, some days less, but that was basically the number we were trying to stick to while moving through the region. Panama City can get expensive really fast if you start staying in nicer hotels, eating every meal in tourist areas and booking tours every day. We did the complete opposite. We stayed in a cheap hostel, had breakfast included, cooked simple dinners, ate one proper meal out, used public transport and walked way more than I would…

If you’re wondering is Panama City safe, my experience there was very different from most of my trips because, for once, I wasn’t traveling alone. I usually travel solo, so safety is always somewhere in the background of my brain. I’m used to checking where I’m going, noticing who is around me, thinking about whether I should walk somewhere, what time I need to get back and whether an area feels right. In Panama City, I suddenly realized I wasn’t doing nearly as much of that. I was traveling with a male friend, and honestly, it was the first time in a long time that I felt like I could…

Panama City was the first stop of my three-week Central America trip, and we gave it exactly one full day before taking the night bus toward Bocas del Toro. We arrived with almost nothing planned, no accommodation booked and apparently no interest in checking the weather either, because we somehow managed to arrive at the end of August during rainy season. It poured for a good part of the day, but we still went out, wandered around Casco Viejo, found a cheap local lunch completely by accident and explored whatever looked interesting. After actually visiting, I still don’t think Panama City needs several days of city sightseeing. If I went…

I visited Panama City at the end of August, and if you’re trying to figure out the best time to visit Panama City, I can already tell you that I would not choose that time of year again. Panama City was the first stop of our Central America trip, and because we only had one full day there before continuing to Bocas del Toro, the weather made a big difference to how much we could actually enjoy the city. It rained a lot while we were there, which gave me a very real introduction to Panama’s rainy season. Panama stays hot throughout the year, so the biggest difference between seasons…