Casco Viejo

Address: Panama City, Pacific Coast & Avenida Central, Panama City, Panama

ATTRACTION Keywords:
Good Place to Eat, UNESCO Heritage Site, Neighborhood

11:33 PM Saturday, May 25
Scattered showers. Broken clouds. Hot.
7 day forecast

Panama City's oldest surviving neighborhood is also its most defensible, a tejas-tiled cluster of primly painted colonial buildings at the tip of a heavily fortified peninsula. These ramparts successfully protected the first Spanish settlement on the Pacific Coast, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After decades of neglect, Casco Viejo is finally being revitalized. New hotels and restaurants, some quite elegant, are occupying the centuries-old buildings. Iconic landmarks like El Arco Chato (Flat Arch), which may date to neighborhood's founding in 1671; the 1798 Metropolitan Cathedral; and many other pretty plazas, palaces, markets, and gold-gilt churches have been refurbished, as have the narrow streets, draped in flowery French balconies, which connect them. Well worth a wander.

Latest Reviews

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All Casco Viejo Reviews

Review by SHARMILA DOLLY S, September 2012
Doing what: Panama City Folkloric Show and Dinner

WILL DO AGAIN

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Review by Jonathan E, USA, August 2012
Doing what: Panama City Folkloric Show and Dinner

Pick up was thirty minutes late but everything else was great. The show was real fun food plentiful and tasty, lots of choices

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Review by Santos P, April 2012
Doing what: Panama City Folkloric Show and Dinner

Had problems with reservations. Was in my traveling partners name (David Roy) instead of mine, Santos Pajntoja. Made it OK after some trouble. Almost missed the show and dinner.

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Practical Info

While the Casco Viejo is well into the process of gentrification, surrounding neighborhoods are not - they are gritty.

Take a taxi, even during the day, unless you're quite comfortable with impoverished areas such as those that surround the old town.

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