Panama Travel Forum

We will visit Panama during a cruise and will stay in Puerto Colon for about 10 hours.

We'll definitely visit the Gatun-Locks at the Canal. But can anyone recommand what else can be done in this short time.

Is it easy to do trips on public busses, or would it be better to take a taxi? What costs have we to expect? And are there any dangers or tourist traps we should be prepared for?

Thank you very much Andrew - great info.

The cruiser offers that trip with the train - but the price is enormous. Maybe we'll hire a taxi and explore the Locks and Portobello. Do you know if there is a car rental in Colon and would this be a recommandable option?

Hi Bernd,

My recommendation is go to Panama City, from there you can visit the Casco Viejo and Canal museum, later go to Miraflores locks, and finally go back to Colon.
Transportation:
Take taxi from Puerto Colon to to the bus station ($1.5) then take an Colon-Panama Express* ($2), from the Bus station take taxi to Casco Viejo ($2 or $3), then take a taxi from Casco Viejo to Miraflores lock ($3 - $6), later take taxi from Miraflores to Bus station ($3 or $4) and finally take the Panama-Colon Express ($2)
* the Colon -Panama express is safety and confortable.

Food:
Bus station in Panama has a lot of fast food restaurants ($3 - $15)

Attraction places on the road: Gran Terminal, Albrook Mall, French Square, Canal Museum ($5), Panama History Museum ($2), Catedral Metropolitana, Altar de Oro, Canciller House, Presidency House, Simon Bolivar square, Ministry de Gobierno y Justicia, National theater, Miraflores locks ($10), Metropolitan Park ($3), Ancon Hill.

If I am available this day I could be lunch with you.

Good Luck,

Mario

Helped a lot - thank you very much

Thanks again for your info guys. It was very helpful. We enjoyed our trip to Panama a lot. What a pity we had only one day. So we saw all this in kind of a hurry. And Portobello wasn't even possible due to lack of time.

But it was definitely a great experience.