Panama City With Kids
A skyline like Miami, a colonial old town, and ships the size of a city block sliding past a viewing deck. Panama City is one of the easiest big trips in the Americas with kids.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Panama City good for kids?
Yes. The canal locks, bikes on the causeway, the Biomuseo, ceviche at the fish market and sloths in Gamboa. It is hot, so plan around mornings, evenings and a pool.
How many days do you need in Panama City?
Three nights for the canal, Casco Viejo and the causeway. Four with a Gamboa day or night. Add a beach after if you have a week.
Do you need to exchange money in Panama?
No. Panama uses the US dollar as its paper currency. Bring small bills for taxis and markets and your cards work as normal.
When is the best time to visit Panama City?
Mid December to April is the dry season. The rest of the year brings afternoon rain, with October and November usually the wettest.
Where is the best place to see the Panama Canal?
The Miraflores Locks visitor center, 25 minutes from Casco Viejo. Viewing decks sit right over the lock chambers. Check the day's transit times so you arrive when a ship is going through.
The Canal Is The Reason, The City Is The Surprise
Everyone comes for the canal. Then they find out Casco Viejo is a walkable colonial neighborhood with ice cream on every corner, the skyline has a waterfront park running along it, and sloths live in a forest inside the city limits.
Panama uses the US dollar, the flights from the East Coast are under five hours from a lot of cities, and English is common in the tourist parts of town. For a family doing their first trip south of Mexico, this is the one I point to.
Getting Around
Taxis and Uber do most of the work. Casco Viejo is walkable, the Cinta Costera is a long flat path along the water, and the canal and Gamboa are short drives. No rental car needed.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Casco Viejo
The colonial old town on a small peninsula. Plazas, churches, rooftop bars, gelato and the best small hotels. Everything is walkable and the sea breeze helps with the heat.
Punta Pacifica and Marbella
The modern towers along the water. Big chain hotels with real pools, malls with air conditioning, and quick taxis to everything. The practical choice with younger kids.
Gamboa
Forty five minutes out, in the rainforest beside the canal. One or two nights here puts sloths, monkeys and the Gatun Lake boat trip outside the hotel door.
American Trade Hotel
A restored 1917 building on Plaza Herrera in Casco Viejo with high ceilings, a pool and a lobby that feels like a living room. Connecting rooms exist, ask for them.
JW Marriott Panama
A tower in Punta Pacifica with a big pool deck, ocean views and family rooms. Easy taxis, easy breakfast, and the kids have somewhere to swim every afternoon.
Las Clementinas
Apartment style suites in Casco Viejo with kitchens and a courtyard restaurant downstairs. A fridge for snacks and room to spread out, for less than the big hotels.
The Three I Build Every Panama City Trip Around
The Miraflores Locks
The visitor center at the Pacific end of the canal has viewing decks right over the lock chambers. Ships move through on a schedule, so check the day’s transit times and plan to be on the deck for one. Watching the gates close and the water drop is the whole trip for a lot of kids.
Casco Viejo on foot
Start at Plaza de la Independencia, walk out to the Plaza de Francia at the tip for the skyline view, and work back through the small streets. Gelato stops are part of the plan. Go in the morning or at dusk, the middle of the day is hot.
The Amador Causeway and the Biomuseo
A causeway built from canal rock links four small islands to the city. Rent bikes or a surrey, ride out along the water with ships lining up for the canal, and stop at the Biomuseo, the Frank Gehry building with the colored roofs. The exhibits are about how Panama rose from the sea and changed the planet.
Family Time, Built In: Panama City With Kids
Panama City is a good first big trip with kids. Short flight, same money, lots of water and a city that is set up for walking in the cool parts of the day. These are the pieces that work.
Bikes and surreys on the Amador Causeway
The Biomuseo
The viewing deck at the Miraflores Locks
Sloth spotting in Parque Natural Metropolitano
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
The Cinta Costera. A long waterfront park between Casco Viejo and the towers with playgrounds, bike paths, exercise stations and shade. Go early or late and let them run while the sun is low.
Five Things To Eat In Panama City
Ceviche at the fish market
Tajadas and patacones
Sancocho
Empanadas
Panamanian coffeeNicole’s Perspective
The canal my students never believed
I taught the Panama Canal for eight years in social studies. Every year a kid asked why anyone would dig a ditch across a country, and every year the answer only made sense when I showed them the map. Standing on the Miraflores deck while a ship rises 27 feet in front of you is the version of that lesson I could never give in a classroom.
I plan Panama for families who want something beyond a beach but are not ready for a long haul flight. Same money, short flight, and a city where the big sight is also the big lesson. The kids who come home from this trip can explain the canal to their grandparents.
The Day Trip: Gamboa and the Canal Rainforest
Forty five minutes from downtown, the road ends at Gamboa, an old canal town surrounded by Soberanía National Park. Take the boat out onto Gatun Lake to see monkeys on the islands, ride the aerial tram up through the canopy, and visit the sloth sanctuary. Ships pass through the canal right beside you the whole time. Leave early, the animals are out in the morning.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Three nights covers the canal, Casco Viejo and the causeway. Four adds Gamboa properly.
The Miraflores Locks, Casco Viejo on foot, bikes on the Amador Causeway and the Biomuseo, with pool time every afternoon.
Add a night in the rainforest at Gamboa for the Gatun Lake boat, the aerial tram and the sloths.
Add three nights at a Pacific beach resort an hour and a half from the city, or fly to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean side for the week.
Panama City With Kids, Answered
Is Panama City good for kids?
Yes. The canal locks, bikes on the causeway, the Biomuseo, ceviche at the fish market and sloths in Gamboa. It is hot, so plan around mornings, evenings and a pool.
How many days do you need in Panama City?
Three nights for the canal, Casco Viejo and the causeway. Four with a Gamboa day or night. Add a beach after if you have a week.
Do you need to exchange money in Panama?
No. Panama uses the US dollar as its paper currency. Bring small bills for taxis and markets and your cards work as normal.
When is the best time to visit Panama City?
Mid December to April is the dry season. The rest of the year brings afternoon rain, with October and November usually the wettest.
Where is the best place to see the Panama Canal?
The Miraflores Locks visitor center, 25 minutes from Casco Viejo. Viewing decks sit right over the lock chambers. Check the day’s transit times so you arrive when a ship is going through.
Ready To Put Panama City On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will set the hotel, time the locks right and decide if Gamboa or the beach is the better add.
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