In a nutshellA sightseeing coach tour of Panama City, especially the colonial quarter and historic centre, called the 'Casco Viejo'. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is made up of narrow, cobbled streets, with squares and buildings in ruins, exuding the history of ancient battles and lootings. We will also see the more modern part with skyscrapers, bridges, military bases and important link roads.

Main stops

Visit to the 'Casco Viejo”, the Old Quarter
Narrow, cobbled streets and ruins of churches, convents, palaces, bridges and military bases
Metropolitan Cathedral and National Theatre
Las Bóvedas: panoramic views of the Amador Causeway, Bridge of the Americas, modern skyscrapers

The programme

We will start our tour leaving the port of Colón on the Atlantic coast on a comfortable coach and travel to Panama, situated on the Pacific Ocean. Over the centuries, the city has played a crucial part in international trade, which has consolidated its role as a commercial marine city. Today, it is an important terminal for crossing the canal and therefore a fundamental means of communication between the two oceans.
When we reach our destination, we will begin our tour by visiting Panama’s Old Quarter, a real Spanish colony, founded on 15 August 1519 by Pedro Arias de Ávila. Just a few years after it was founded, it became a departure point for the exploration and conquest of Peru and a transit point for silver and gold heading to Spain across the isthmus. In 1671, privateer Henry Morgan attacked and plundered it with a band of 1,400 men and then set fire to it. The area was rebuilt in 1673 by French colonists in a new location approximately 8 km south-west of the original city, and this place is known as the Casco Viejo or Old Quarter, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As we pass through the Casco Viejo, our guide will tell us the history of Panama and the legends linked to its colonial past. We will observe the narrow, cobbled streets in the centre and admire the ruins of churches, convents, palaces, bridges and military buildings, which reflect the city’s majestic colonial past. Over the centuries the city has experienced profound change, which is particularly visible in the architecture that features an interesting mix of French, Spanish and Italian styles.
We will get off the coach and enjoy a stroll through the historic centre to admire some of the main buildings up close, including the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built between 1688 and 1796, was declared a national monument in 1941 and is an extraordinary example of religious architecture, flanked by two bell towers decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays, and the National Theatre, with impressive decoration on the ceiling by artist Robert Lewis.
The last stop on our tour of the Casco Viejo is Las Bóvedas, a monument that forms the walls surrounding Plaza de Francia at the tip of the peninsula. The site takes its name from the fact that, in ancient times, prisoners were kept inside the walls here; today it is home to art galleries and a restaurant. From this point, we will have wonderful panoramic views of the more modern part of the city, in particular the Amador Causeway, the Bridge of the Americas and the glass and steel skyscrapers on the sea front.
After visiting the Old Quarter, we will board our coach again to return to the ship.

Good to know

The excursion includes a walk over uneven tarmac, which lasts approximately 1 hour.
The journey from Colón to Panama takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.