Panama 

Donde Jose is a fantastic restaurant and a complete splurge. The michelin starred restaurant offers up a 9 course tasting menu each night. The goal of the chef is to tell a story of Panamanian cuisine and it does a fantastic job of embracing all the cultures that make Panama unique while using local ingredients, […]

Located on Finca Lerida’s Coffee Plantation, La Brulerie offers great food with sweeping views of the mountains of the coffee region. If it’s early grab a cocktail on the balcony and enjoy the hundreds of varied colorful wild birds flying around the gardens. Go inside for dinner where you can enjoy delicious locally fresh fare […]

Pedro Mandinga is Panama’s first artisanal rum distillery and is well worth visiting. Located in the heart of Casco Viejo near Plaza Herrera, it offers a lively wood paneled tasting room with walls that open to the street outside.

Mahalo is a Canadian run restaurant that embraces local ingredients, healthy eating, and farm to table ideology.

Panama City’s vibrant fish market offers up the freshest seafood in the city. It’s serviced by more than a thousand fishermen in boats from villages surrounding the Pacific coast.  It’s busiest in the morning when restaurants and locals are picking up fish. Be prepared to be amazed by the shear amount of ceviche. On the […]

When most people think of Panama, they think of the Panama canal and here’s your chance to see it. The Miraflores Visitors Center offers fantastic outdoor viewing decks of ships passing through the locks and you can admire the entire (long) process.

Panama Viejo hosts the ruins of the original Panama City founded in 1519 by Spanish conquistadors and the first European settlement on the Pacific. As a UNESCO world heritage site in the middle of a residential neighborhood you can wander the ruins and explore the small but informative museum. Given that there are very few […]

The Quetzal Trail, aka Los Senderos Quetzales, is one of the most popular and hiked trails in Panama.

Cayo Coral, a small island between Isla Bastimentos and Isla Popa, hosts some really beautiful coral reefs, supposedly among the most beautiful in the Bocas archipelago. 300 yards off of the island is a reef where snorkeling occurs. The waters in this area are especially calm and clear and are sheltered from the open sea […]

Casco Viejo (aka Casco Antiguo) is the remains of the colonial center of Panama City. Within recent years it has undergone a revitalization, with hotels and restaurants re-vamping the beautiful architecture. We always enjoy walking tours and learning more about a city! You’ll pass by beautiful cathedrals, European-style market squares, winding cobbled streets, and political […]

Most lodges offer tours to an indigenous village, or you can pick a company in Bocas Town to go through. We opted for the tour through Popa Paradise Beach Resort which began with a boat ride through a narrow channel in the mangroves. We then followed an indigenous and local guide through the rainforest where he pointed out interesting plants and bird species. You’ll walk along planks over swamp water (hold onto the poles sticking out of the water!) and end on a dirt path. You’ll then emerge to the beautiful village of Popa Dos.

The Boquete area of Panama is trying to make coffee tasting in the region equivalent to what wine tasting is to Napa. What this leads to are fascinating tours and even better coffee.

Even if you don’t like jazz, Danilo’s Jazz Club is really fun. As part of the American Trade Hotel, this venue has live concerts on the weekends with artists both local and international.

Popa Paradise Resort has the motto “barefoot luxury” and is true to its name. It’s an adult only resort and appeals to more “off the beaten path” travelers, though does not scrimp on amenities. You do need to know, it is remote. It is a 40 minute boat ride from Bocas Town, so once you’re on the island, you aren’t leaving except for island-led excursions. It’s unique among hotels in the region, because it is located on in the outer archipelago (Isla Popa) making it secluded. The hotel is located on 25 acres of beautiful white sand beaches, turquoise ocean, and rainforest. Because of its size, even at peak season, the pool and property don’t feel overrun with other travelers.

This is the quintessential hotel in Casco Viejo. If you pour over travel sites and blogs like I do, and you can afford the splurge, the American Trade Hotel is the place to stay.

Finca Lerida was an incredible and restful place to stay! Located within a working coffee plantation, it offers a wide array of rooms, stunning gardens, a huge number of beautiful local birds, sweeping views of mountains and coffee, and a fantastic breakfast.