Layover in Panama City: What to Do in Half a Day
In May, while browsing Google Flights for my return to the US from Chile, I noticed many of the cheapest options were on Copa Airlines (Panama’s flag carrier) with layovers in Panama City. Being the opportunist that I am, I couldn’t resist squeezing in a mini adventure. The best option was a 12-hour daytime layover (6AM–6PM), which I determined after a brief search was just enough time to watch ships transit the Panama Canal and explore at least one other part of the city before heading back to the airport. (I later discovered that Copa actually offers a free stopover program, which I definitely would’ve considered).
Since I only travel with a 25L backpack, I had no literal baggage holding me back from being spontaneous (watch for my one-bag travel gear list coming soon!). Here’s how I spent that solo day in Panama.
Quick overall thoughts:
I’d say overall, with a 12-hour layover like mine, you’re able to hit the major tourist areas: Panama Canal, Casco Viejo (Old Town) and maybe another area like the Parque Natural Metropolitano (protected tropical forest for hiking and wildlife) or Panama Viejo (ruins of the original Panama City destroyed by pirates in the 17th century). With a shorter layover, you might need to prioritize 1-2 areas.
Do plan your visit to the Panama Canal and check the ship transit schedule before going: At the Miraflores Locks (the original canal locks that, for a trip of this length, are the ones to prioritize), ships cross until sometime in the morning, and start again sometime in the afternoon, so there’s no activity for a few hours around midday. The schedule changes daily, so you won’t actually know the exact times until the day of, but you can check the schedule for a few days beforehand to get a rough sense of the hours and whether your layover would accommodate those schedules. Honestly seeing the locks in action and ships crossing is the main highlight, so definitely plan to be there to see at least parts of it. See the ship transit schedule here.
Don’t discount heat, humidity, and unpredictable thunderstorms: Panama City is hot and humid year-round. And especially after coming from a red-eye flight with less-than-ideal sleep, your body might not be able to deal with the heat very well (I definitely felt that). So definitely plan to wear layers on the plane that you can easily take off to accommodate the hot weather, and carry plenty of water. Plus, the thunderstorms are real – I wanted to hit up the ruins of Panama Viejo after lunch before heading back to the airport, but it started pouring rain so I just played it safe and headed back to the airport.
Itinerary
6:05 AM: Landed in Tocumen International Airport
7:30 AM - 8:00 AM: Uber from airport to Panama Canal Miraflores Visitor Center
8:00 AM - 10:30 AM: Slowly seeing everything at Panama Canal
10:30 AM - 10:50 AM: Uber from Miraflores Visitor Center to Casco Viejo
10:50 AM - 12:00 PM: Walking around Caso Viejo (Old Town)
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM: Lunch at Fondo Lo Que Hay (Panamanian cuisine in Casco Viejo)
1:30 PM - 2:10 PM: Uber from Casco Viejo back to airport
5:50 PM: Flight leaving Panama City
Getting around
I recommend using Ubers to go around: Ubers are safe, clean, readily available (and could be affordable without the airport surcharge: I paid ~$30 going from the airport to Miraflores Visitor Center, ~$9 from Miraflores Visitor Center to Casco Viejo, and $22 going from Casco Viejo back to the airport).
If you feel confident negotiating prices in Spanish, taxis could work too, but I feel that Ubers give you better peace of mind since you can see the price ahead of time. Plus, Uber gives you the safety and security features that, as a solo female traveler, were important to me.
I read online that traffic in Panama City could be terrible, but personally I did not experience that except in the middle of the Old Town area. I was there on a Sunday though, so perhaps I was saved from weekday rush hour traffic.
I usually like to learn and navigate the public transport system, but I’d say for a half-day trip with limited time, it’s not worth spending more time in transit, and plus the major tourist sites are not so close to each other.
Panama Canal (Miraflores Visitor Center)
There are four sets of locks to the Panama Canal system: two on the Pacific side (Miraflores and Cocolí) and two on the Atlantic side (Agua Clara and Gatun). Only Miraflores and Agua Clara have dedicated visitor centers. The Miraflores Locks, which allow ships to pass between the Pacific Ocean and the interior waters, are the original canal locks opened in 1914 and are ~30 minutes by car to the city center; the Agua Clara Locks, which allow ships to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and the interior waters, are 1 hour 15 minutes away and feature locks with increased capacity for larger ships and opened in 2016. For a layover, Miraflores is definitely the one to visit to both see the original engineering marvel and to see much more extensive tourist facilities (including a museum, a film narrated by Morgan Freeman, and a gift shop).
The Miraflores Visitor Center opened at 8AM – I ubered directly from the airport and I got there right at opening, and there was already a line outside. However, the wait wasn’t long, and I was able to buy my tickets and head to the locks in 15 minutes. That was important since for that day, the ships were only going to pass until 8:45 AM and it would’ve been so sad if I missed it.
I made a beeline to the locks area, which has an observatory stand that tourists have to stay at to see the locks in action. To go between sea level (either the Atlantic or Pacific) and the interior Gatun Lake (about 26m / 85ft above), the ship goes through a series of chambers that act like giant water elevators. To go from the ocean to the lake, the chambers raise the ship, and to go from the lake to the sea, the chambers lower it. To do so, the ship enters a lock chamber, massive gates close behind it, and water is either pumped in (to raise) or drained out (to lower) purely by gravity through culverts in the lock walls and floor. By moving through a series of chambers, vessels make the 80 km (50 mi) trip across Panama without having to sail around South America.
Ship after passing through first chamber.
The Miraflores locks have two chambers, and it takes about an hour for a ship to pass through both. When I got there, the ship was just about through the first chamber, so in the half hour I was there, I was able to see the ship fully pass the second chamber. The direction I saw was from the ocean to the interior, so water was raising the ship. This was honestly amazing to see. I was awed that engineering was able to take advantage of natural forces and use only water and gravity to do the heavy lifting in this system. So this was possible because Gatun Lake was manmade for this purpose by damming the Chagres River, which allows the Canal to control the elevation change – ships cannot handle the natural changes in elevation of the Chagres River themselves. The engineers did originally consider using mechanical pumping, but with this dam, they realized they could harness water stored at elevation to fill locks by gravity — no external power needed. This solution was simpler, cheaper, and self-sustaining. Engineering marvel indeed.
After the ship had passed and I was thoroughly amazed, I went into the visitor center to catch the IMAX 3D movie narrated by Morgan Freeman: “Panama Canal 3D: A Land Divided, A World United.” The movie is around 45 minutes and runs every hour-ish. The movie goes through the history and construction of the canal, from the failed French attempt to the US one that succeeded in 1914. The tone of the movie is definitely triumphant, though it did spend some time on the human costs of building the canal, including the exploited labor, lives lost from diseases and construction perils, and unequal power dynamics (the Canal was under control of the US government until 1999, when it was finally transferred to full Panamanian control).
Afterwards, I got a coffee in the cafeteria, briefly walked around the gift shop, then headed out.
Casco Viejo (Old Town)
I Ubered directly from Miraflores Visitor Center to Casco Viejo. Try to Uber directly into the heart of Casco Viejo (like setting your destination to the Panama Canal Museum around Plaza de la Independencia) , since the surrounding areas of Casco Viejo did not seem very secure.
Plaza de la Independencia.
The old town area is fairly small, so I was able to walk around most of it. It was fairly quiet that day, with not too many people around, so it felt pretty peaceful, if not a little lonely, for most of the walk. The architecture is a blend of styles: Spanish colonial with stone churches and plazas, 19th century French Neoclassical townhouses with balconies, arched windows, and pastel facades, and Caribbean houses wooden shutters and brightly painted walls. And overall, some buildings were restored into boutique hotels and cafes, whereas some had a weathered, unrestored feel. That combination, along with the narrow cobblestone alleys and sparse people, gave the entire area a distinct vibe.
Spanish colonial townhouses with thick stucco walls and wood shuttered windows.
More Spanish colonial townhouses with Caribbean bright colors, and narrow cobblestone street.
French and Neoclassical influence, with tall arched windows and decorative molding.
At the edge of Casco Viejo, you can see the crumbling stone remains of the old city walls, part of the original colonial fortifications built to defend the city against pirates and invasions.
Ruins of the old city walls.
I considered trying to make my way to the coastal walkway a bit, but the heat and humidity and lack of sleep was getting to me. So I ended up sitting a bit at the Paseo Esteban Huertas, a passageway covered on top with bougainvillea flowers, with Guna women selling crafts on the sides. From there, you can see the view of the central business district on the other end, with soaring glass skyscrapers. The juxtaposition was quite stark. When I first saw skyscrapers, I was quite taken aback as I didn’t expect to see something so Dubai-esque. Apparently, a decade ago, a lot of these buildings were actually empty since investors rushed to build them due to anticipated demand from Panama’s growing economy, and actual occupation didn’t catch up. I didn’t get to make it there to experience it myself, but apparently even now, the district is a lot less bustling than it seems from the outside.
My bench on Paseo Esteban Huertas, with CBD on the background.
Lunch at Fonda Lo Que Hay
I eventually made it over to my lunch reservation at Fonda Lo Que Hay, a traditional Panamanian “fonda” (small, informal eatery) with a modern twist. I got an appetizer of tuna carpaccio on top of toasted yuca chip, which was absolutely bomb – the texture pairing was so amazing with the smooth tuna and the crunchy yuca chip, and the flavors were soooo good with the onion ceviche on the side. Honestly I wished I had ordered two. And for my main dish, I wanted the crispy pork belly gaucho, but they were out, so I ordered a pork leg sandwich, and it was also absolutely amazing (and had these super flavorful plantain chips that I loved). Great meal.
The decor was chic and welcoming overall.
Back to the airport
By the time I finished lunch at around 1:30PM, it had started pouring rain, and I decided to just play it safe and head to the airport (in case of bad traffic later) instead of attempting to go to another area. Overall, this layover trip was totally worth it to experience a bit of the country . Next time I have this opportunity, I will seriously consider a stopover to explore more of Panama.
Luxury high-rises in Punta Pacifica, on the way to the airport.
