Layover In Panama City

Very interesting to read about Panama City. I am used to reading a lot about the big cities in this blog like FRA CDG LHR DXB AUH SIN etc but this is a welcome change! Very well written with the taxi part leads one to feel the anxiety as almost all the frequent travellers would have experienced this situation surely once.

Keep it coming.

I very much liked Panama City and agree it's worthy of at least two days.

Panama City is an amazing city and admittedly a lot more cosmopolitan than I had expected. Spent 4 days there last March and am making a return trip this April for another 3 days plus 4 more in Bocas Del Toro.

Love this new addition to Lucky's blog. As much as it's nice to read about SQ first class suites and the lounge at the Park Hyatt I appreciate a chance to read about less popular airlines and cities.

Keep it up.

This definitely makes me want to visit Panama City more than I already did! I'll probably be flying to South America somewhere this year on United points (haven't decided where yet) so a layover in Panama City is probably in my future.

You definitely have a way with words - I literally LOL'd at "a Nancy Meyers-does-the-tropics wet dream of bougie excess (needless to say, I ate it up)." That hotel looks awesome. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Thanks for the PTY entry. I have an upcoming mileage run with AA. Purposefully booked a longer layover, as I wanted the chance to check out a new city.

Re: your UA phone-eating seat: let me guess...PMCO plane? I lost my iphone to the cavernous J seat on their 764 shortly after departure from GRU. Spent the ENTIRE 9hrs to EWR desperately searching for my phone. Two realizations pushed me into panic mode: I had irreplaceable photos that hadn't yet been backed up (I know, I know...), and I knew the EWR ground staff would be less-than-helpful on arrival.

We landed at EWR. Still no phone in sight. Gate agent gave me the obligatory spiel about filing a lost property report...followed by a terse warning that I would need to be deplaned in the next five minutes. At that point, no fewer than 8 crew members descended on my seat, effectively pushing the gate agent into the galley. Flight attendants had already ripped the cushions off of my seat when a PILOT got down on his hands and knees, and extracted my phone through some combination of brute force and mechanical prowess.

I was floored by the selfless efforts put forth by the crew (after working an overnight flight from South America, no less). I was also incredibly frustrated to hear (from the crew) that these seats are known to regularly gobble passenger property. Anyway, the lost phone story hits close to home.

It's great to read about your experience in Panama. I just spent 8 days in Panama City over the New Year break. Panama City is really nice and a wonderful city, especially the parts you mentioned of Casco Viejo and the old city. We also took a day trip outside of Panama City to do some adventure and see other parts of the country. While Panama City was very nice and great, to me it’s not a destination city but rather a city you would visit on a long layover or if you are passing through to another city (which many travelers whom I met were doing – using Panama City as a base to travel around the rest of Central America)

The old city is Panama isn't worth seeing if you've been to Cartagena.

early last November, they had to shut down the main airport for part of the day due to the volume of migrating Raptors. That must have been a stunning sight to see.

Sobernia is a wonderful jungle / park not far from the city. So many great pictures of Toucans among the 25 or so bird species we observed, not to mention all the butterflies.

Frank Gehry

Partial canal transit was a great way to spend 7 or 8 hours. Our only crocodile sighting!

Our favorite Casco Viejo restaurant was Diablicos. Very good Panamaneian food, fun service, and dance performances (traditional) on Thurs - Sat nights.

Waterfront park / path from downtown to Casco Viejo is a gem.

Once you've been to Colombia, Panama City holds no interest at all. Terrible traffic, mediocre over-priced food, and the worst city planning imaginable.

Hi, this is a bit of an odd question but I'm having a bit of a hard time finding an answer. I will also have a little less than a 24 hour layover in panama city with Copa airlines, and I'm wondering, do you collect your checked luggage once you get into the panama city airport and recheck it the next day? I'm just not sure how this works and I've heard it differs for different airlines. I'm judging by you worrying about not having time to check your bags on the airline on your way out that you did collect your checked luggage when you arrived at your stopover. Thank you!!

I just recently went to Colombia from Japan and had a 7 hour lay over in panama. with the help a taxi driver named Joshua i was able to drive all around panama for 6 hours for just under 150 bucks. He took us around a tour of panama including, sea side, Panama cannel, around the city and other stuff. he was super friendly and really nice. I left my bags in the airport for about 5 bucks. it's totally worth it and it was way safer than I thought. https://www.instagram.com/joshuacotizado/ this is the guy, tell him Michael sent you.