How To Use This E-Book
Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Panama, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Panama. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Panama are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Panama. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.
2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd
Table of Contents
Panamas Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction 1
Casco Viejo. Hip rooftop bars and chic restaurants dot leafy plazas, ancient churches, and stately colonial buildings in Panama Citys historic center. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 2
The Panama Canal. The 20th centurys greatest feat of engineering is astonishing to behold, whether youre observing giant container vessels squeezing through the locks, or experiencing the magical tropical scenery on a boat or in a kayak on the Canals rainforest-protected reservoir, Lago Gatn. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 3
Colonial forts. The ruined colonial forts of San Lorenzo and Portobelo are impressive reminders of the defenses the conquistadors needed to protect their plundered treasure from marauding pirates. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 4
Partying in the Azuero. From the seriously hedonistic Carnavales to the religious celebrations of Corpus Christi or small-town patronales , its hard to beat the revelry of the Azuero Peninsula. Expect flamboyant costumes and exuberant music and dancing washed down with lashings of seco, the countrys potent spirit. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 5
Parque Nacional Soberana. Only a short hop from Panama City, this wildlife paradise has almost guaranteed sightings of toucans, parrots, sloths, and monkeys. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 6
Chiriqu Highlands. Whether ziplining, birdwatching, hiking through cloudforest, or watching the sun rise from the summit of Volcn Bar Panamas highest peak most visitors find time to sample some of the worlds finest gourmet coffee. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 7
Guna Yala. The Comarca Guna Yala stretches along the Caribbean coast, home to a host of palm-topped islands and the indigenous Guna, who have fiercely defended their mores and lifestyle against outsiders for centuries. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 8
Parque Nacional Darin. Its no easy matter to get here, but the rugged mountains, towering rainforest canopy, and immense biodiversity in the countrys largest wilderness area and Unesco World Heritage Site is worth the effort. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 9
Bocas del Toro. A popular Caribbean destination, Bocas offers a chilled party scene, with great drinking, dining, and dancing, as well as rainforested islands, and watersports and beaches galore. For more information, .
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Top Attraction 10
Santa Catalina and Coiba. This isolated fishing village is Panamas best surfing destination and also the gateway to Coiba, the countrys top marine reserve and most unexplored island. For more information, .