Panamá City Things to Do Tips by bilgeez Top 5 Page for this destination

Old Canal Administration Bldg.

Not real exciting, but a remnant of the US administed Canal Zone. Worth a drive by, anyway if you go to Miraflores, you go past it.

Directions: Not far from Albrook Mall, about a mile or so. McDonald's and Friday's are close by, too.

Visit the Miraflores Locks

A trip to Panama wouldn’t be complete unless one visits the Locks on the Panama Canal. Probably the most easily accessible of these are the Miraflores Locks near Panama City. One can take a cab there for a few dollars or a bus or a tour that originates in Panama City. The entry fee for non-Panamanians is $5 at Miraflores Visitors’ Center. If you want to see the exhibits, add $3. They are OK, and informative, but not really necessary to see. There are several levels one can view the locks from. There is a restaurant on the third level that is supposed to be pretty good, albeit expensive, for Panama, I haven’t tried it yet, but hope to fairly soon. The upper level is where one gets a good view of the whole process of a ship using the lock and has great views looking toward Amador and up the Galliard Cut.

Directions: Any cab driver should know where this is! There are miriad tours from PC that go here every day as well!

Other Contact: cvm@pancanal.com

Phone: (507) 276-8325

Website: http://www.pancanal.com

Amador Causeway

If one visits Panama City one has to go on the Amador Causeway. It stretches from the mainland to a promintory that is the gateway to the Panama Canal. The causeway starts where there is a statue of workers and continues about three miles and ends at a shopping mall at the distal end. Between are walkways one can hike or bike on, there is a bike rental concession nearby Pencas Restraunt at the mainland end of the Causeway. The Smithsonian Institute Labs are on the Causeway and a couple of malls with many shops and restaurants, including a Bennigan´s and a branch of the locally popular Leños y Carbon restaurant.
It´s a great place to stroll, bike, people watch and check out a spectacular view of the Panama City skyline, the Bridge of the Americas, and ships waiting their turns to go through the canal.

Address: South-west of downtown Panama City

Directions: Amador Causeway.

Bridges

There are two bridges over the Panama Canal, the older, Bridge of the Americas, is an arch-type bridge closer to the Amador Causeway, it can be seen from the Causeway quite easily. Farther up the canal, and past the Miraflores Locks, is the near-new Centennial Bridge, which is a suspension bridge, is now open, I have traveled over it several times since I moved here. I read in some past tips that the bridge was complete but not open because the entrance ramps were not complete, I can say most definitely, they have been completed and the bridge is in use see the photos below for proof.

Address: Highway 1, the TransAmerican Highway.

Directions: The Bridge of the Americas is closer to Amador and Downtown PC, the Centennial Bridge is further north, past the Miraflores Locks.

Website: http://panamacanal.com