Panama

PANAMASTARTER

Einstein and the Spires

≈ 2,000 steps1.0 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

The other Panama City, the one people live in. A 1.2 km walk up Vía Argentina in El Cangrejo from the Gothic church on Vía España to a giant concrete head and a neighbourhood park, with the city's densest run of cafes and restaurants on both sides. Ninety minutes, best in the evening when the terraces fill.

PANAMASTARTER

Three Plazas of the Old Quarter

≈ 1,000 steps0.5 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

A slow loop through Casco Viejo, the walled quarter Panama moved to in 1673 after pirates burned the first city. Three squares, each a different century, all within 600 metres of each other on flat brick streets. About ninety minutes with a coffee; late afternoon is coolest.

PANAMASTANDARD

Causeway to the Bridge

≈ 3,000 steps + 9.4 mi by car1.4 mi on foot · about 5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The Pacific mouth of the canal from ground level. Walk or rent a bike for the 6 km Amador Causeway, built from Culebra Cut rock, from the Biomuseo plaza out to Flamenco, then taxi to Balboa for the Goethals steps and a free lookout under the Bridge of the Americas. Half a day; the causeway is exposed, so start by eight.

PANAMASTANDARD

The Bay Walk and the Flag

≈ 3,500 steps + 3.3 mi by car1.7 mi on foot · about 4 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Half a day along the water and then above it. Start with ceviche outside the fish market, walk 2 km of the Cinta Costera past Balboa's statue to the city's oldest park, then a short taxi to the foot of Ancón Hill and thirty minutes on a paved road to the flag. Go early: the bay walk has no shade after ten.

PANAMAADVANCED

Locks Without a Ticket

40 mi by cara full dayAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day by car up the canal from a rainforest lookout in the city to Gamboa and back over Madden Dam. You see the canal at work from a parking strip, a bridge and two national-park trailheads without buying a visitor-centre ticket; the Miraflores centre is ticketed and reported closed for renovation into 2027 anyway. Soberanía charges a small park fee. Rain most afternoons; do the trails first.

PANAMAADVANCED

The Highlands of Chiriquí

≈ 3,000 steps + 216 mi by car1.4 mi on foot · 3 days or more · + the walk in to 2 stopsAdvanced II · 9 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Two days in the far west. Fly Albrook to David in under an hour or drive seven, then climb from the lowland plaza and a long grey beach into coffee country at Boquete and around the volcano to Cerro Punta. Trailheads and lakes, not summits: you stand at the gates of Barú and La Amistad, pay the small park fees, and go as far in as the weather allows. October is wet up here; go in the mornings.

PANAMAADVANCED

Two Oceans and a Week

918 mi by car6 days or moreAdvanced III · 11 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

The hardest thing Panama holds: both coasts and two UNESCO fort sites in about a week of driving plus one flight. From the ruins of the first city to the Caribbean forts at Portobelo and San Lorenzo, west through a volcano's crater to Pacific surf at Santa Catalina and the Azuero beaches, then fly to Bocas del Toro for the last three legs. October is wet on the Caribbean side; keep a spare day.