Driving to Boquete
 

Hello!

My husband and I are going to be visiting Panama in a few weeks. We are going to be flying into David on our way into Boquete, we have rented a car but was hoping someone might have some detailed driving directions from the David Airport into the town of Boquete....
Anything would be appreciated!

Thanks

Can't help much with the detail, but I remember the drive! We got our directions from the car rental desk at the airport, but missed the turn and had to ask again at a store on the town square (story of our lives in Central America!).

I believe you are supposed to make a left at the police station (on your right) as you come into the main part of town. It isn't hard, and the drive to Boquete is about an hour, maybe a little longer. Where are you staying there?

We are staying at the Coffee Estate Inn (Hotel La Montana y El Valle). They gave us a map on how to get there, however it is not easy to read and I tend to get lost easily....
another question though, is there a decent grocery store in Boquete?
thanks

Coffee Estate Inn is a lovely place. They have a pretty complete kitchen for you to use complete with an orange juicer and lots of fresh oranges from their own trees, a french coffee press for their wonderful fresh roasted coffee was wonderful to wake up to. There is a microwave and a small stove.

We had them cook dinner for us one night and Jane and Barry treat you like royalty.

The other nights we ate at the Panamonte. Check out the bar area in the back if you go there. It is beautiful.

When we wanted a big breakfast we found several good places in town on side roads.

There is an excellent grocery store in town.

We did that trip back and forth to David but honestly don't recall the details. The boulderscape between David and Boquete was fascinating. Seemed like millions of boulders everywhere from Volcan Baru. I wonder what they do with all of them when they move them to build a house.

Thanks for information! How long is the drive from boquete to the coffee estate inn? How is parking in town as well? one more question, how is breakfast in the restaurants, what kind of food is served for a typical breakfast?
thanks!

ibiza-girl25,
This past summer, there was work on a bridge, so we took a little detour to the Coffee Estate Inn. Took about 8-10 minutes from town.

Jane will recommend several restaurants in town for you. We ate a couple of very good meals, but I didn't journal our week in Panama (it was at the end of a 7 week whirlwind that had included our 2 year old granddaughter for 2 weeks and I let up on the journaling while she was with us and didn't get back to it!). I'll check my post and see if I mentioned the names of the restaurants. The birding guide I went out with recommended a good one as well. We were pleased with every restaurant we tried in Boquete. We didn't go to the Panamonte, though.

We didn't eat breakfast in Boquete because Jane and Barry made delicious breads and muffins and we ate those with the coffee and juice

I hope you have a great trip, and will report back upon your return! On this board at any given time, some are traveling and the others living vicariously! :)

I checked one of my Panama posts and the references I made to the restaurants were a bit obscure--not very helpful.

Jane had recommended a Peruvian place that we liked--ask her and she'll know. Also, one night we had a good meal at a little French restaurant in the small shopping mall (she'll know that one also). I think it had the word "rose" in its name, but that might not even be close! She'll also know about the cafeteria on main street where we had lunch when we first arrived. She and I talked about that at length. It may have been "something" deli.

If you'd like to read that post about our time in Boquete with Jane and Barry, I'll top it for you. It says "Hi from Shillman" I misspelled my screenname and suffered much teasing from my Fodor "friends"! :)

Thanks shillmac! Great post with great information!
We leave in two weeks and I am getting so excited!

Here's some driving directions from the airport...

When you leave the airport you turn left across the divided highway...
Just after the road narrows from 4 lanes to two you will see a police station on your left, prepare to turn left right after the police station, the road otherwise veers to the right at this intersection (not well signposted)...
Follow this road (passes through the outskirts of David), there are a couple of supermarkets if you want to get any supplies, until you reach the main highway. Pretty obvious, 4 lane divided highway.
Turn to the right and follow this road as it curves to the right. Keep in the left lane and look for an overhead sign for Boquete (green with yellow letters) pointing to the left.
If you see a TGIFriday's and a mall with a Rey's supermarket, you have gone a block too far.
Once you have turned left, just keep on this road as it rises up the side of the mountains. Watch for people overtaking on curves and with oncoming traffic but it's a pretty decent road.

Once you reach Boquete, you will descend on a double curve before hitting the town itself, continue through the town, until you reach a Y junction - there will be signs pointing to the right - Panamonte, Los Establos and Coffee Estate Inn, so take the right hand fork. Pass the Panamonte hotel on your left and cross the bridge, the road then curves to the left. Take the first road to your right, there should be a sign. Head up the hill and take the next road to your right, again there should be a Coffee Estate Inn sign - watch for the Inn on your right hand side. It's about 10 minutes from the center of town.

It's actually pretty hard to get lost but I know my wife would!!!

There is a Romero's supermarket in Boquete and a couple of smaller grocery stores.

As for restaurants, the two that Shillmac talks about are Macchu Pichu (they have a sister restaurant in Panama City) and Hibiscus. There are quite a few others that have cropped up - saw there was a new Mexican opened up and Palo Alto Riverside can be good, and of course the Panamonte Dining Room offers excellent dinners but I prefer a more relaxed meal in the bar with the huge fireplaces.

Hope this helps,
Andrew

Thanks, Andrew--tiene razon! ;)

Hi There!

My hubby and I are heading out to PTY/Boquete/TBA in a few weeks and would love to hear some news/recommendations from your trip.

Thanks much!