Seeking advice on our 24 hour layover activities
Sep 25th, 2024 | 07:30 AM
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Joined: Mar 2009
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Seeking advice on our 24 hour layover activities
Hello forum members!
Based on posts regarding hotel booking, I'm set on our 24 hours in Panama city in mid-November. We are now booked at the Sofitel, because I wanted to have the best chance of a quiet night sleep after our very early morning of travel! We are scheduled to arrive at Tocumen at 1:35 pm on Wednesday and leave from Albrook at 1pm on Thursday.
Now, I'm working on figuring out our activities for our stopover before heading to Bocas del Toro and seeking your input. We are two middle-aged adults traveling without our teens for this trip! We typically enjoy learning about a city's culture, history, art, food, and people during our vacations. Obviously, we can't do it all in one day and this trip we'll likely only see a bit of Panama City. The things of interest to me after reading tons of posts in this forum and other places are: Casco Viejo, Panama Canal, Amador Causeway, Cinta Costera, Bridge of the Americas. I'm trying to figure out how to enjoy our brief stay but not rush around trying to "check off" all the sights. Rather, relax and enjoy what we do see.
Here are my questions and things needing input:
I spoke with a tour guide who suggested picking us up at the airport and going immediately got to Miraflores to see the afternoon ships going through the locks (assuming the schedule for the day). However, I'm worried that will be a lot of additional travel after a long day and I understand there is construction at the Visitor Center that may make viewing more difficult. I'm also not sure we would love sitting through the IMAX after our day. Though I have heard it's a great film and very informative! So, I'm leaning against it but would love opinions!
Currently, I'm thinking about a Casco Viejo walking tour in the late afternoon after our arrival. I see a free/tip based tour at 3pm that looks great (we've had success with these in other cities). There is also a fee based one at 3:30 or I could arrange a tour through our hotel. I'd love to join a group, but worried about timing getting from the airport to our hotel and then to the meeting point. Would like advice on that!
For our morning, we could see if we are up for getting up early and taking an Uber to Miraflores for the morning transit. If we aren't up for it, I'm thinking about strolling on the Amador Causeway and taking in the sites from there.
Another option would be: I am assuming we should be at Albrook by 11:30 am for our 1pm flight to Bocas del Toro. Perhaps we could arrange transport that would also drive us by the Canal or perhaps across the Bridge of the Americas for a viewpoint before dropping us at the airport. Would this be worthwhile and doable?
Would love to hear which morning option sounds more doable for us.
Thank you for reading all of this and for helping me plan a great anniversary trip for my spouse!
Based on posts regarding hotel booking, I'm set on our 24 hours in Panama city in mid-November. We are now booked at the Sofitel, because I wanted to have the best chance of a quiet night sleep after our very early morning of travel! We are scheduled to arrive at Tocumen at 1:35 pm on Wednesday and leave from Albrook at 1pm on Thursday.
Now, I'm working on figuring out our activities for our stopover before heading to Bocas del Toro and seeking your input. We are two middle-aged adults traveling without our teens for this trip! We typically enjoy learning about a city's culture, history, art, food, and people during our vacations. Obviously, we can't do it all in one day and this trip we'll likely only see a bit of Panama City. The things of interest to me after reading tons of posts in this forum and other places are: Casco Viejo, Panama Canal, Amador Causeway, Cinta Costera, Bridge of the Americas. I'm trying to figure out how to enjoy our brief stay but not rush around trying to "check off" all the sights. Rather, relax and enjoy what we do see.
Here are my questions and things needing input:
I spoke with a tour guide who suggested picking us up at the airport and going immediately got to Miraflores to see the afternoon ships going through the locks (assuming the schedule for the day). However, I'm worried that will be a lot of additional travel after a long day and I understand there is construction at the Visitor Center that may make viewing more difficult. I'm also not sure we would love sitting through the IMAX after our day. Though I have heard it's a great film and very informative! So, I'm leaning against it but would love opinions!
Currently, I'm thinking about a Casco Viejo walking tour in the late afternoon after our arrival. I see a free/tip based tour at 3pm that looks great (we've had success with these in other cities). There is also a fee based one at 3:30 or I could arrange a tour through our hotel. I'd love to join a group, but worried about timing getting from the airport to our hotel and then to the meeting point. Would like advice on that!
For our morning, we could see if we are up for getting up early and taking an Uber to Miraflores for the morning transit. If we aren't up for it, I'm thinking about strolling on the Amador Causeway and taking in the sites from there.
Another option would be: I am assuming we should be at Albrook by 11:30 am for our 1pm flight to Bocas del Toro. Perhaps we could arrange transport that would also drive us by the Canal or perhaps across the Bridge of the Americas for a viewpoint before dropping us at the airport. Would this be worthwhile and doable?
Would love to hear which morning option sounds more doable for us.
Thank you for reading all of this and for helping me plan a great anniversary trip for my spouse!
