Must-see attractions in Panama City

  • Biomuseo

    BioMuseo

    Panama City

    Celebrating Panama as the land bridge that has permitted astonishing biodiversity in the region, this world-class museum is a visual feast. Exhibits tell…

  • Museo de Arte Contemporáneo

    Panama City

    This wonderful privately owned museum features the best collection of Panamanian art anywhere, an excellent collection of works on paper by Latin American…

  • Panama Viejo Ruins, Panama City

    Panamá Viejo

    Panama City

    Founded on August 15, 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias de Ávila, the city of Panamá was the first European settlement along the Pacific. For 150…

  • Plaza De Francia, Panama, Central America

    Plaza de Francia

    Panama City

    At the tip of the southern point of Casco Viejo, this beautiful plaza pays homage to the French role in the construction of the canal. Its large stone…

  • PANAMA CITY, PANAMA, DECEMBER 19 2006.  The Golden Altar of the Church of San Jose, on December 19th 2006. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY; Shutterstock ID 157436489; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Iglesia de San José

    Panama City

    This Casco Viejo church protects the famous Altar de Oro (Golden Altar), the sole relic salvaged after privateer Henry Morgan sacked Panamá Viejo.

  • Canal Museum (Museo de Historia de Panama), Old Quarter.

    Museo del Canal Interoceánico

    Panama City

    This impressive museum is housed in a beautifully restored building that once served as the headquarters for the original French canal company. The Panama…

  • Panama City, Panama, Panama, Central America

    Teatro Nacional

    Panama City

    Built in 1907, the interior of this ornate Casco Viejo theater has been completely restored. It boasts red and gold decorations, a once-magnificent…

  • Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

    Panama City

    Built between 1619 and 1626, this cathedral is the best-preserved building of the Panamá Viejo ruins. In traditional fashion, it was designed so that its…

  • Puente del Rey

    Panama City

    Built in 1617, this Panamà Viejo landmark may be the oldest standing bridge in the Americas.

  • Panama City, Panama - 01/25/2019 People walking towards a view point in the Metropolitan Park in Panama City from which you can see the skyline of the city on a nice and sunny summer day.
Parque Natural Metropolitano

    Parque Natural Metropolitano

    Panama City

    On a hill north of downtown, this 265-hectare park protects vast expanses of tropical semideciduous forest within the city limits, and serves as an…

  • 500px Photo ID: 123398001 -

    Centro Natural Punta Culebra

    Panama City

    Ideal for families, CEM is operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). This informative marine museum features two small aquariums and…

  • Explora Center of Science & Arts

    Panama City

    Mini travelers (and those young at heart) will love this museum dedicated to interactive learning. Six exhibition rooms explore such themes as electricity…

  • Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús

    Panama City

    These days only a shell, this 1741 convent and church in Casco Viejo was destroyed in a fire and further damaged in an earthquake but remains a thing of…

  • Parque Recreativo Omar

    Panama City

    The biggest park in the city is filled with children, joggers and the occasional salsa class. It's located in Omar, behind the San Francisco neighborhood…

  • Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo

    Panama City

    Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo is the best-preserved church of the ruins of Panamá Viejo. The convent dates from the 1570s, though the church was…

  • Iglesia de La Merced

    Panama City

    An example of the baroque style in Panama, this Casco Viejo church was built in 1673 with a facade transferred from Panamá Viejo.

  • Panama Canal Murals

    Panama City

    The story of the monumental effort to build the Panama Canal is powerfully depicted in murals by notable artist William B Van Ingen of New York. The…

  • Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco

    Panama City

    Like other Panamá Viejo churches, this is among the settlement's most outstanding structures: rectangular, with stone outer walls, timber roofs, internal…

  • Mariposario Metropolitano

    Panama City

    With 1600 species, Panama City's butterfly garden is a worthy stop for nature lovers. Fifteen-minute guided tours explain the life cycle of butterflies…

  • Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo

    Panama City

    Built in 1678, these gorgeous ruins in Casco Viejo are what remain after two major fires brought down the church's tower and interior areas. Left are the…

  • Iglesia y Convento de la Concepción

    Panama City

    In Panamá Viejo, Iglesia y Convento de la Concepción was erected by the nuns of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. Most of the ruins, which cover the better…

  • Estadio Maracaná

    Panama City

    Inaugurated in April 2014, this is the home stadium of Chorrillo FC and Club Deportivo Plaza Amador. It was named after the legendary Maracanã Stadium in…

  • Plaza de la Independencia

    Panama City

    In this plaza, in the heart of Casco Viejo, Panama declared its independence from Colombia on November 3, 1903.

  • Catedral Metropolitana

    Panama City

    The headquarters of the Panama archdiocese. Construction started on this 1796 cathedral in 1688.

  • Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial

    Panama City

    Housed beside the ruins of the Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo, the Museo de Arte Religioso Colonial has a collection of colonial-era religious…

  • Ruins of Panama Viejo - Panama City, Panama

    Museo de Sitio Panamá Viejo

    Panama City

    In the original settlement of Panamá Viejo, this museum traces the history from pre-colonial times to colonial life. There's an impressive scale model of…

  • Parque Bolívar

    Panama City

    In 1826, in a schoolroom opposite this Casco Viejo park, Simón Bolívar held a meeting urging the union of the Latin American countries. Bolívar eventually…

  • American Trade Hall

    Panama City

    Once the headquarters of the First National City Bank of New York, this is where much of the financing of the Panama Canal took place. Today the American…

  • Panama City, Panama - May 19, 2019: Two historical buildings of the Old Panama City.  Panama Canal Museum can be seen on the left; on the right stands the Municipal Palace (white building). The Museum of History of Panama (Spanish: Museo de Historia de Panamá) is a history museum located on the ground floor of the Municipal Palace of Panama City.

    Museo de Historia de Panamá

    Panama City

    The modest Museo de Historia de Panamá has a small selection of exhibits covering Panamanian history from the colonial period to the modern era.

  • Balboa Statue

    Panama City

    Sculpted by Miguel Blan and Mariano Benlliure, the Balboa statue overlooks the Bahía de Panamá and was inaugurated in 1924, a gift from Spain.

  • Casas de Terrín

    Panama City

    Facing the Plaza Mayor in Panamá Viejo, these houses were built by Francisco Terrín. The better houses were usually built from timber and placed wall to…

  • Casas Reales

    Panama City

    Panamá Viejo's center of power resided at Casas Reales, a complex ringed by timber ramparts and separated from the city proper by a moat. Within the…

  • Baha’i House of Worship

    Panama City

    On the northeastern outskirts of Panama City, the white-domed Baha’i House of Worship is the mother temple for all of Latin America. It looms like a giant…

  • City of Knowledge

    Panama City

    Once the headquarters for the US Southern Command in Panama, ‘Ciudad del Saber’ is today a government-sponsored center for education, research and…

  • Fuerte Amador Resort & Marina

    Panama City

    At the end of Isla Flamenco, this complex contains a two-story shopping center, a marina, a cruise-ship terminal and a number of restaurants and bars. At…

  • Iglesia y Convento de La Merced

    Panama City

    Erected by the Mercedarian friars in the early 17th century, these Panamá Viejo buildings survived the fire that swept the city following privateer Henry…

  • Paseo las Bóvedas

    Panama City

    This esplanade runs along the top of the sea wall built by the Spanish to protect the city. From here, you can see the Puente de las Américas arching over…

  • Iglesia de San José

    Panama City

    In Panamá Viejo, Iglesia de San José belonged to the Augustine order. Of special interest here are the building’s vaulted side chapels, an architectural…

  • Cabildo de la Ciudad

    Panama City

    Facing the Plaza Mayor in Panamá Viejo, the Cabildo de la Ciudad was built by one of the city’s wealthiest citizens, Francisco Terrín, in the early 17th…