Travelling with kids creates the best of memories, especially being able to see through their eyes all the amazing things they take in.

Key points about Panama City:

💦 Tap water is safe to drink (Most places, but double check with the locals) NOT safe in Bocas Del Toro

💵 They use US $, coins could be returned in local currency of Balboas

🎒 Petty theft is high in certain parts of the city, like purse snatching and pick-pocketing

🚙 Uber is an inexpensive way to get around the cities

🚌 They have a great bus system

📱 Don’t buy SIM card at the airport, way cheaper in town – $5 for unlimited talk and data for 7 days. You can purchase a refill card to add another 7 days at the same time

🧻 Toilet paper doesn’t get flushed. You don’t have to pay to use the public toilets, and toilet paper is supplied (most of the time)

Things we did in Panama City:

🚶Old City

🚢 Miraflores Lock

🚶‍♀️ Urraca Park at night

💦 Sea wall – lots of playgrounds along it

🌮 Food trucks

Panama City is huge. There are many things to see and do and tons of places to stay with a wide variety of price range. We searched for a place on Booking.com, taking into consideration googling the unsafe neighborhoods to stay in. As an unwritten rule goes when travelling to some countries, going out after dark is not advised.

Panama City has a reputation for not being a very safe place for families with young children, and lots of petty crime like pick-pocketing.

While we always use extreme safety precautions while travelling with our girls, we tightened them even more while in the heart of the city. We had been warned by numerous people (from taxi drivers to local moms) to hold our children extra close due to kidnappings in and around the city.

The first day we jumped in a taxi and headed to the Old Town, Casco Viejo. We walked around here taking in all the beautiful colonial buildings as well as exploring the church in the centre. We then proceeded to walked back towards our hotel along the sea wall. We tried to find somewhere to eat lunch but were unsuccessful so ended up catching a taxi and having him take us to McDonald’s. We always have a tough time finding places to eat, which sounds crazy I know. The McDonald’s was in a “rough” neighborhood as per the taxi driver who warned us very sternly. We had a quick lunch, Tyson went out to grab a taxi while I waited inside the restaurant with the girls and our backpack, and I ran out with them once the taxi had been secured. We never felt like we were in any danger however the high presence of police and military in the area gives reason that there are a few shady characters lurking around in broad daylight.

The following day we relaxed at our hotel pool in the morning then decided to head to the Miraflores Lock in the afternoon. We caught an Uber and away we went. When you arrive you pay your entrance fee and are handed two tickets, one for the viewing deck and the other for the IMAX movie. I had looked up the ship times online prior to us going. This is very important as they use both locks at different times. We arrived right as a large container ship was entering from the Caribbean side. There was a small catch however… The next IMAX movie was playing in 30 minutes. So we rushed out to the over crouded viewing deck and watched, but it was a very slow process getting the huge ship into place. So we chose to make our way to the IMAX movie with plans of catching the next boat after the show. Just as we crossed the turnstiles we asked if we could come back to the viewing deck after the movie; that was a big NO. Turns out that there is gates within the main gates so learn from our mistake. Make sure you time it so you can do both without having too much of a gap in there. Had we known this prior to arriving then we would have done the IMAX movie first then gone to view the lock in action. The movie is wonderfully done, very informative and those funny glasses are always a good time. After we were all finished we arranged another Uber and returned back to our hotel.

We stayed at Hotel La Cresta Inn, which was located within walking distance to the ocean. This hotel had a pool that was always in full shade which was a huge bonus in the heat. Breakfast was included and a gym (although the equipment was a bit lacking).

There was also a grocery store about two blocks away as well as just one block away, a bunch of food trucks set up containing a variety of meal choices with several tables to sit down and relax. This seemed like the perfect spot to stay when in Panama City. La Cresta within a few blocks walking distance to Urraca Park.

We walked down to the Parque Urraca in the evening and being now into December it was all decorated with Christmas spirit. Even Santa was there along with food and music.

It was time to go explore more of Panama so we headed to the bus terminal onto our next destination. We were told this terminal was enormous and very unsafe due to heavy pickpocketers and bag snatchers. We had our Uber driver drop us off at one of the many entrances. I’m not sure if it was by fluke that he stopped at the right door or what, but we walked in, there was little to no crowds, asked security where we would find the ticket counter for El Valle and he pointed 20 metres away. We purchased our tickets for $4.25 each then the ticket lady met us at the turn style gate and used her pass for us to get through. We gave her $1 for this. Otherwise we would have had to buy a card to get through this which cost $2 then would need to be loaded with money. We passed through here and headed to gate 53 to our awaiting mini bus. It’s a big place and has a lot of security walking around, but at no time did we feel unsafe. It might have been the time of day, or because we were there for only a moment before catching our ride.

We settled into the mini bus and were on our way. These types of buses stop everywhere and anywhere. They pick up more people than will fit inside and air conditioning is questionable. They just keep cramming people and bags in to the point where your personal space is taken advantage of. The kids ended up sitting on our laps along with some of our backpacks. A different way of travel for back home for sure.

Continue this way to El Valle