Highlights of Panama Tour Sample Itinerary
Suggested Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights | Price: Determined by Final Customized Package
This Private, Tailor-made Vacation Package is a great introduction to some of the fun and exciting highlights of Panama; as well as the famous Panama Canal. You will travel by motorized dugout canoe through the tropical rainforest with opportunities to spot toucans, monkeys, and other type of wildlife. Then visit an Embera Indigenous community and learn all about their way of living in the rainforest. Take an Aerial Tram Tour, zip along huge tankers in Lake Gatun as they carefully navigate the Panama Canal, and then visit the impressive Canal Expansion Project. Then you will tour historic Portobelo and return to Panama City. Head back home or add on to your Panama Adventure!
Day 1: Welcome to Casco Antiguo!
Your journey begins when you arrive at Tocumen International Airport. You will be picked up at the airport by your Private Guide and then transferred to colonial Casco Antiguo where you will be dropped off at your hotel. The Central Hotel Panama was built nearly 150 years ago in the heart of Panama City, facing the beautiful Plaza de la Independencia (Independence Plaza) in Casco Viejo (Old Town). It was the first hotel in the country at the time of its opening in 1874 and quickly became a meeting place for intrepid travelers.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 2: Chagres River and Embera Culture
Take a trip deep into the jungles of Chagres where the Embera indigenous people have lived for many centuries. Ride up the river in a traditional hand carved canoe and arrive in the village, where you will be taken back in time and immersed in the ancient Embera cultural dances and music. The traditions here have not changed much since the 1500s when Columbus arrived. Take a trek with the Embera people and learn about the native wildlife and birds of the area. Your Embera guide will reveal how they use rainforest plants as natural remedies. Watch the local women weave baskets out of palm leaves and have your body painted with natural fruit dyes.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 3: Gatun Lake Expedition & Aerial Tram
Ascend 280 feet from the forest floor through the dense undergrowth to the canopy on the aerial tram. At the top you can climb the observation tower and enjoy stunning views of Soberania National Park.
Next you will take a thrilling 20 minute boat ride through the heart of the Canal and enter the labyrinth of islands on Gatun Lake, where you might spot howler monkeys, three toed sloths, capuchin monkeys, toucans, crocodiles, turtles, caimans and many colourful butterflies. Your experienced naturalist guide will educate you about the amazing wildlife of this diverse region.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 4: Panama Canal Expansion Visitors Center & Historic Portobelo
This morning you will be picked up at the hotel for a scenic drive across the isthmus alongside the Panama Canal. The road is mostly highway but does also provide access to views of gorgeous protected rainforests alongside Gatun Lake, once the largest man-made lake in the world. Explore the sleepy bayside town of Portobelo on a historic walking tour and see the colonial fortifications that still point their canons towards the bay. Then, take a tour of the Panama Canal Expansion Visitor Center. Everyone can’t help but be impressed by mammoth tankers that can now fit through the wider set of Locks.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 5: Private Anton Valley Tour
Take a gorgeous scenic drive through rolling hills and rural villages to the picturesque town of El Valle, located in the crater of a huge extinct volcano. This small town is surrounded by jagged mountain peaks, cool and refreshing creeks and lush fertile plains. Enjoy the cool and refreshing high altitude climate – El Valle is known as the “Land of Eternal Spring”.
Hike to refreshing waterfalls deep in the jungle and keep an eye out for tropical birds in the forest canopy. Visit the Nispero Botanical Gardens & Zoo and see the pre-Columbian petroglyphs at La Piedra Pintada. After a delicious meal at a local restaurant you will visit the famous Sunday handicraft market to check out the authentic wares of the indigenous artisans.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 6: Panama City and Miraflores Locks
Panama City is fascinating, vibrant, cosmopolitan and one of the most important cities of the Americas. On this intriguing historic tour you will see all of the highlights of the old city, including the National Theater, the National Cathedral, the Panama Canal Museum and the San Jose Church.
Travel to Miraflores Locks to marvel at this impressive feat of engineering. You will also visit the “Causeway” – a group of three islands linked to the mainland by the breakwaters of the Panama Canal. This site was used by the US Army for the defense of the canal due to its strategic location. Today the Causeway is lined with restaurants, bars and excellent shopping, so pick up some traditional handicrafts including jewelry, wood carvings and hand-woven baskets.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 7: Panama Canal Partial Transit Tour
The tour starts at the Flamenco Resort and Marina at approximately 7:30 a.m. where you board the ship for your northbound journey toward the Bridge of Americas, You will be in picturesque Panama Bay where you will be able to admire Panama City’s beautiful skyline. You will enter the Panama Canal after cruising under the Bridge of Americas which is at the Pacific entrance to the Canal. When you come to Miraflores Locks the vessel will be lowered 18 meters in two distinct steps.
You will then enter Miraflores Lake, which is a small artificial body of fresh water that separates Pedro Miguel from Miraflores Locks as you are on your way to the second set of locks which is Pedro Miguel. After transiting Pedro Miguel Locks you will be able to view the Centennial Bridge that crosses over the Canal as you are on your way to Gaillard Cut, where the Chagres River flows into the Canal. After traveling about 13.7 Kilometers you will reach Gailard Cut (also known as Culebra Cut because its curves resemble a snake) is one of the main points of interest for visitors because it was carved through the Continental Divide and this section of the Canal is full of history and geological importance.
Night in Casco Antiguo at Central Hotel – Premium Room
Day 8: Farewell to Panama
Today you will be picked up from the hotel lobby approximately 3 hours prior to your scheduled departure for the private transfer to Tocumen International Airport.