Sat 26th Jul 2008
- Panama City Travel Guide & City Information
Panama city is quite an exciting city with a lot of history. You will be able to see many buildings in the typical Colonial Baroque style that was popular in all of Central America before the Spaniards were kicked out.
Panama city is a very beautiful city. The first thing you see in panama's skyline is the contrast between the old (the Casco viejo, old part of town, founded in 1673)and the new (Balboa avenue, banking area and paitilla point). While the modern part of town is a fast moving city with skyscrapers everywhere, all kinds of restaurants and night clubs, a lot of small shops as well as big department stores and shopping malls, cellphones ringing allover, the Casco viejo takes you way back in time with it's narrow streets, cafes and it's great architecture.
Nice things to do include a visit to the causeway (a wavebreaker converted into a tourist magnet, which by the way conects three small islands to the mainland) to grab a bite in one of the many restaurants it has to offer, ride a bicycle, watch the cruises dock at the marina at the end or to just take a walk in the windy afternoon.
At the periphery of the modern town you will find the ruins of Panamá la Vieja, the first town founded by Spaniards at the Pacific in 1519.