PANAMA CITY, AZUERO & SAN BLAS

DURATION: 9 Days / 8 Nights

DAY 1 | ARRIVAL – PANAMA CITY

Arrival to Panama City. Pick up at the airport by our guide who will help with the transfer to the Hotel in the city, about 30 minutes away. The guide will also provide important information regarding the rest of trip. 

Overnight stay.

MEALS: – / – / –

DAY 2| FULL DAY PANAMA CITY TOUR W/ SPECIAL FORTALEZA WALKING CITY TOUR AT SUNSET

The tour starts at the Panama Canal, a magnificent work of engineering, actually the greatest and most expensive human feat of the time. After 30/40 minutes of route, you will reach the Visitor Center of Miraflores Locks, from which you will be able to see closely the ships moving along the canal, and the way it operates.

Forthwith, you will visit the Amador Causeway, which offers one of the city’s most spectacular panoramic views. Afterwards, you will make a brief visit at Mercado de Abasto [wholesale marketplace], the city’s largest fruit and vegetable market, where you will find the best products of the country. Lunch will be served in one of the unsophisticated and typical restaurants of the traditional Seafood Market of the city (only fish dishes are offered).

The tour continues in the Old Quarter of Panama City, the historic center of San Felipe declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, thanks to its eclectic fusion of colonial, neoclassic and French architecture.

Under the catch phrase “We used to rob tourists before, now we offer them tours”, a group of young former gangsters from the fearsome criminal group known as Ciudad de Dios [City of God] tell tourists their story during a walk around the streets of the historic center which were declared red-light districts years before. The walk starts at Plaza Herrera, in front of the luxurious American Trade Hotel which worked previously as a base for the criminal group Ciudad de Dios and from where gangsters used to keep an eye on tourists in order to rob them.

The hotel’s structure was known as Grayskull, the imaginary castle of the 80’s TV show He-man. During the walk, they will tell you episodes and anecdotes from those violent years while describing important buildings and going over forgotten footways that have not been restructured between 9th Street and 13th Street. The walk ends in 11th Street, rebaptized under the name of Fortaleza Alley, a little dead-end street where the criminal group used to escape from the police.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / –

DAY 3| PANAMA CITY – CHITRE – HALF DAY RUM TOUR

Transfer to Albrook Domestic Airport to board the flight Panama City – Chitre.  Arrival and transfer to Cubita Boutique Resort & Spa.

In the afternoon, visit the San Isidro Farm where the best rum of Panama is produced: Ron Abuelo. The route starts with the visit to an ancient colonial house belonging to the distillery’s founder: Mr. José Varela. The route continues along the plantations and at the farm mill where you will see the different stages of the production process: the juice extraction, its fermentation and its distillation. Later on, while going over the farm’s seedy bars, you will see the rum maturing process which is done in little oak casks until it reaches different commercialized standards: Ron Abuelo Añejo, Ron Abuelo 7-Year-Old Rum and Ron Abuelo 12-Year-Old Rum, and Ron Abuelo Centuria (30-Year-Old Rum) Finally, there will be a rum tasting through which you will be able to sense their scent, aroma and intensity and you will also enjoy a typical Panamanian lunch.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B/L/-

DAY 4| FULL DAY TERRITORIES OF URRACA

This tour invites you to discover the territories of the fearsome Urracá, the master of wind, rain and thunders. The powerful Indian Chief of Veraguas resisted countless attacks from The Spanish. He defeated Espinoza and he defeated thereafter the Governor of Pedrarias. Visit at the Juan Demóstenes Arosemena Teacher’s Training College, where wonderful paintings and murals of Roberto Lewis are visible right there: the monument to the Indian Chief Urracá and the Regional Museum of Santiago de Veraguas. The tour continues at San Francisco de la Montaña, where the Church of San Francisco is located, one of the oldest and best-preserved examples of the country’s baroque architecture. Finally, you will go on a walk in the forest reserve of San Juan River and La Yeguada Lake.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B/L/-

 DAY 5 I CHITRE – PANAMA CITY

Early in the morning, your will be transferred to Panama City assisted by a guide during the road trip which will visit La Pintada, El Caño, Aguadulce, Nata y Parita.

Arrival in the afternoon and overnight stay.

MEALS: B/L/-

 DAY 6 I PANAMA CITY – SAN BLAS

Early in the morning, your will be transferred to Albrook Domestic Airport to take the flight Panama City – Playon Chico, San Blas.  You will meet our representative who will transport you to the hotel.

MEALS: B/L/D

 DAY 7-8 I SAN BLAS

Free day at leisure for optional excursions included within the hotel’s package.

MEALS: B/L/D

 DAY 9 I SAN BLAS – PANAMA CITY

At schedule time, you will be transfer to Playon Chico Domestic Airport for flight to Panama City. 

Departure transfer to Tocumen International Airport.

MEALS: B/-/-