Entry requirements | Organizing your trip | Visiting | Eating | Paying | Speaking |

Entry requirements

Passport and visa service

National Directorate of Immigration and Naturalization

Diplomatic representations

List of Panamanian Embassies worldwide

For more information

Organizing your trip

Means of transport recommended in town

Recommendation

Getting around in town is usually done by bus or taxi.  The cost of a taxi ride depends on the areas visited.

Maps of urban networks

Maporama
Mapblast
UT Library on line

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Recommendation

Taking into account the distances, getting around in the country is usually done by bus.  Maintenance work on the road network is underway in the capital city and inside the country (Panama/Colon highway is being built and the Inter-American road is being widened).

Rail companies

Panama Railway Company

Flight from Tunisia

Distance between capital cities in km: 9 396
Flight duration between capital cities: 34h55 (via Madrid)

Airlines offering direct flights from/to Tunisia

Airline	Low-cost solution	From	To

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

The road network is undergoing significant renovation in the capital and inside the country (the Panama/Colon highway under construction and the widening of the interAmerican road). It is highly recommended to drive with the great care or even better, to take a taxi ordered by telephone.  The law is that of survival of the fittest as the highway code is followed in a very haphazard way. Night trips are to be avoided. An international driver's license is required.

Road maps

Map of panama
Interactive Map of Panama City

Find an itinerary

Suggested Itineraries for Panama

Visiting

Different forms of tourism

Historical

Today Panama City has the advantage of being able to offer a large architectural diversity.  The different structural styles that can be admired there originate from two distinct periods.  The first is the colonial period from which remain a few beautiful examples in Casco Viejo.  The second, much later, is associated to the opening up of the railway line linking Colon and Panama City as well as the construction of the canal.

Cultural

Situated along Panama's North-eastern coast on the Carribean sea, the Comarca of San Blas has the singularity of being the only province in the country exclusively populated by an American Indian population, the Kunas, who call their land the Kuna Yala.  It is also the only one that is exclusively governed by an American Indian population.

Nature

If the Panamanian fauna and flora is too often ignored by travellers, the same goes for the many island and beaches of the Panama province, which are scattered on its Pacific coast.

Isolated and difficult to get to, the Archipielago de las Perlas islands make up the biggest group.  Amongst these islands, the most famous is without a doubt the Isla Contadora.

Beach

Situated between South America and Central America, Panama covers 75,517 km² and offers magnificent beaches on the coasts as much on the Pacific side as on the Caribbean: 80 kms separate the two oceans.  The Panama isthmus offers a considerable variety of landscapes and an astonishing eco-tourism.  The city of Panama City is a mixture of a modern metropolis (in surprising expansion), old colonial districts (classified as world heritage) but also the ruins of the old town before Captain Morgan sacked it.

 

A visit to the canal is unavoidable!  There is so much to see in Panama! Not only the local folklore but especially the semi-independent territories of the different American Indian communities.  The Kuna Indians live in a magnificent archipelago of 370 islands.  Panama offers a still mass tourism-protected eco-tourism:  50% more bio diversity than Costa Rica, 10 times more forest and 450 migratory bird species (that is more than from Portugal to the Urals).  For more information on tourism in Panama, refer to the Panama Tourism Office.

Tourism organizations

Panama Tourism Board

Eating

Food specialties

Panamanian cooking reflects its population, a mixture of Spanish, American Indian, African and Asian cooking.  The meals often start with a vegetable or meat soup, the main dish usually has beef, pork or chicken accommpanied by rice, plantains, red beans, cassava or potatoes and a salad.  The desserts are made of all sorts of fruits (apples, citrus fruits, bananas, strawberries, etc) of which many are tropical fruits.  For more information on Panamanian cuisine (typical dishes and recipes) click here (Spanish only).

Drinks

The meals are accompanied by wonderfully tasting tropical fruit juices (lulo, passion fruit, pineapple, guava, papaya, tamarind or lemonade...) or sodas locally made and with a variety of flavors.  Coffee is served everywhere in little cups, even on the streets.

Paying

Domestic currency

Panamean Balboa

ISO Code

PAB

To obtain domestic currency

The Panamanian currency is officially the Balboa however, a Balboa has had the same value as the dollar since its beginning in 1904.  Panama therefore does not produce its own bills and uses United States bills.  On the other hand, Panama mints its own coins which are of the same size as US coins.  In the country Panamanian or US coins can be used indiscriminately, and traders give change with either.  The ISO code of the Balboa is PAB.

Possible means of payment

In the big cities, payment can be done by credit card; in the countryside and with small traders, payment is made in cash.

Exchange rate on

Automatic Teller Machines (ATM)

To find out the locations of ATMs in in Panama, click on the link to your credit card: Visa, Mastercard or American Express

Speaking

Official language

Spanish

Other languages spoken

A lot of Panamanians speak English fluently. Several indigenous dialects are also spoken.

Business language

Spanish and English, because of the many business and other relationships with the United States.

Getting some knowledge

See this link.

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Last updates: May 2012