A country · 71 places · 9 regions

Panama, all of it.

71 curated places across 9 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Panama City · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Panamá Province, Chiriquí Province, Colón Province and Bocas del Toro Province — read below as chapters, with 5 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Panamá Province · 23 places

Panamá Province

Panama City presents a striking contrast between the restored colonial quarter of Casco Viejo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the gleaming skyscraper skyline that lines the Bay of Panama. The canal locks at Miraflores offer viewing platforms where visitors can observe container ships transiting between oceans. Casco Viejo's plazas, tile-roofed churches, and balconied townhouses make it one of the most photogenic historic districts in Latin America.

Panama City

Panamá Province, Panama

✦ January to April · $$

Pearl Islands

Panamá Province, Panama

✦ January to April · $$

Casco Viejo, Panama

Panamá Province, Panama

✦ December to April for dry-season evenings on the plazas · $$

All 23 places in Panamá Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Chiriquí Province · 8 places

Chiriquí Province

Boquete is a highland town nestled in a valley at approximately 1,200 metres on the southern slopes of Volcán Barú, surrounded by coffee farms, flower nurseries, and cloud forest. The Caldera River flows through the town, and numerous hiking trails radiate into the surrounding national park. The cool climate and consistent trade-wind mist create growing conditions for some of Panama's most acclaimed arabica coffees, including the Geisha variety.

✦ December to April · $$

Meet Boquete All 8 places in Chiriquí Province →

Chapter III · Colón Province · 6 places

Colón Province

Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade.

Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo

Colón Province, Panama

✦ December–April · $$

Gamboa, Panama

Colón Province, Panama

✦ December to April; dawn visits are best for birding · $$

Isla Grande, Colón

Colón Province, Panama

✦ February to April for the driest Caribbean conditions; weekends get busy · $

All 6 places in Colón Province →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Bocas del Toro Province · 5 places

Bocas del Toro Province

The wild heart of the Bocas del Toro islands, mixing the Afro-Caribbean village of Old Bank with the rainforest and beaches of a national marine park. Red Frog Beach and Wizard Beach draw day-trippers, while tiny endemic poison dart frogs hop through the interior jungle. Nesting sea turtles use the long northern beaches between April and September.

✦ February to April and September to October for the driest Caribbean weather · $$

Meet Isla Bastimentos All 5 places in Bocas del Toro Province →