Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Panama can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Panama itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
For Panama, make sure routine vaccines (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio and flu) are current, and get hepatitis A and typhoid, since both spread through food and water. Yellow fever vaccination is recommended if you visit Darién, Guna Yala (San Blas) or the areas east of the Canal, and Panama may ask for a yellow fever certificate if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, such as Colombia or Brazil. Hepatitis B and rabies are worth considering for long stays or work with animals, and malaria tablets are advised for Darién, Guna Yala and parts of Bocas del Toro. Dengue is present nationwide, so mosquito repellent matters as much as any shot; check with a travel clinic 4 to 8 weeks before departure.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Panama, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Panama runs on a relaxed social clock, so a dinner invitation for 8 p.m. often means 8:30 or later, but tours, boats and long-distance buses leave on time and won’t wait. In the Indigenous comarcas, especially Guna Yala and Emberá villages along the Chagres River, always ask before photographing anyone. Many Guna expect a small fee of around US$1 per photo, and each island community charges its own visitor fee, which you should pay without argument because it funds local self-government. Do bargain lightly and with a smile for molas and handicrafts at markets. Don’t haggle in shops or supermarkets, where prices are fixed. Don’t litter on islands or beaches. Avoid loud, dismissive comments about the canal or the former US-controlled Canal Zone, since sovereignty over the canal is a point of real national pride. Women traveling solo will likely hear catcalls, called “piropos,” on city streets. Locals mostly ignore them and walk on, which is the smartest response, and taking a registered taxi or ride-hailing car after dark is common practice. Panama does not recognize same-sex marriage, and while Panama City has an active LGBTQ+ scene and an annual Pride march, same-sex couples are wise to keep public affection discreet in rural towns and conservative Indigenous areas.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Panama.
- Sancocho panameño: A chicken soup thickened with ñame (a starchy yam) and flavored with culantro, a broad-leafed cousin of cilantro. It counts as Panama’s national dish, served at family Sundays and sold as a hangover cure after Carnival.
- Arroz con pollo: Yellow rice cooked with chicken, olives, capers and vegetables, the centerpiece of birthdays, weddings and office parties across the country.
- Ropa vieja: Shredded beef stewed with tomato, onion and peppers, eaten with white rice and plantains at cheap lunch counters (fondas) for a few dollars.
- Carimañolas: Torpedo-shaped yuca fritters stuffed with seasoned ground beef, a breakfast staple with black coffee at street stalls and bakeries.
- Patacones: Green plantain slices fried, smashed and fried again, served salted on the side of nearly every plate, especially with fried fish on the coast.
- Ceviche de corvina: White sea bass cured in lime with onion, cilantro and ají chombo (a fiery local pepper), sold in small cups at Panama City’s Mercado de Mariscos fish market.
- Tamales panameños: Corn dough filled with chicken or pork, olives and raisins, wrapped in banana leaves. Families make them in big batches for Christmas and New Year.
Tap water in Panama City and most of the mainland, including Boquete and David, is treated and safe to drink, and most locals drink it without a second thought. Travelers can usually do the same there, but in Bocas del Toro, the San Blas islands and remote rural areas the supply relies on rainwater or weak treatment, so stick to bottled or filtered water. A refillable bottle with a built-in filter covers both cases and cuts plastic waste.
The main language in Panama is
Spanish. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Spanish skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Panama includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - Spanish is the language of daily life in Panama, though
English goes further here than in most of Central America thanks to the decades of US presence around the Canal and the international banking scene in the capital. In Panama City’s business districts, Casco Viejo and the hostels of Boquete and Bocas del Toro, you can usually get by in English, and younger Panamanians often speak some. Bocas del Toro also has an English-speaking Afro-Caribbean community whose creole, Guari-Guari, mixes English and Spanish. Outside those hubs, in the interior towns of the Azuero Peninsula or on rural bus routes, expect Spanish only, so download an offline Spanish pack in Google Translate and learn bus and food basics like “¿cuánto cuesta?” and “la parada, por favor.”
Money & Payments
The local currency of Panama is PAB (B/.).
Panama uses the US dollar as its paper currency (the local balboa exists only as coins, pegged one to one), so you never need to change money if you arrive with dollars. ATMs are easy to find in Panama City, David, Boquete and Santiago, usually charging a local fee of about US$3 to 6.50 per withdrawal on top of your home bank’s charges, with limits of roughly US$250 to 500 per transaction. Bocas Town has a few ATMs that can run dry on busy weekends and the San Blas islands have none, so withdraw enough beforehand. Cards work in supermarkets, malls, hotels and most mid-range restaurants, but buses, fondas, water taxis, hostels in small towns and island stays are mostly cash only. Carry small bills, since many shops refuse US$50 and US$100 notes; euros are hard to exchange outside Panama City, where banks and airport exchange booths will change them at poor rates, so bring dollars or rely on a fee-free debit card.
Tipping in Panama is customary but modest: leave around 10% in sit-down restaurants, after checking the bill, since some places already add a service charge. Taxi drivers do not expect tips, while tour guides typically get US$5 to 10 per person for a full day and hotel housekeeping US$1 to 2 per night. In cheap local fondas, rounding up the bill is plenty.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.