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Photo by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Panama City
Panama · Latin America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Panama City
Tap a month for its page
- JanJPanama City in January: ok, busy
- FebFPanama City in February: sweet spot
- MarMPanama City in March: ok, busy
- AprAPanama City in April: ok
- MayMPanama City in May: avoid
- JunJPanama City in June: avoid
- JulJPanama City in July: avoid
- AugAPanama City in August: avoid
- SepSPanama City in September: avoid
- OctOPanama City in October: avoid
- NovNPanama City in November: avoid
- DecDPanama City in December: ok, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Jan–Mar, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
Plan this trip
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Flights
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Where to stay
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Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
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Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Things to do in Panama City
- Panama Canal Not only one of the world's most important shipping connections…
- Casco Viejo Casco Viejo is the historic part of town…
- Panama Viejo The archaeological site of the ruins of the original city of Panama that was sacked by…
- El Chorrillo El Chorrillo represents the cultural richness of Panama and the social challenges faced…
- Biomuseo Designed by the architect Frank Gehry.
- Miraflores Visitor Center/Miraflores Locks The most visited place along the canal is the Miraflores Visitor Center at the…
- Cerro Ancón Cerro Ancón or Ancon Hill is the tallest peak in Panama City.
Tours and tickets in Panama City
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Panama City), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31° | 2d | 78% | 10.6h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 31° | 1d | 74% | 10.9h | sweet spot | 31C max, 1 rainy day |
| Mar | 32° | 1d | 72% | 11.0h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Apr | 32° | 7d | 78% | 10.7h | ok | 32C max, 7 rainy days |
| May | 30° | 20d | 88% | 8.7h | avoid | monsoon: 20 rainy days, 287mm |
| Jun | 29° | 22d | 89% | 8.1h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 308mm |
| Jul | 30° | 22d | 89% | 7.6h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 351mm |
| Aug | 29° | 22d | 90% | 8.0h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 322mm |
| Sep | 29° | 23d | 90% | 8.1h | avoid | monsoon: 23 rainy days, 306mm |
| Oct | 29° | 22d | 90% | 8.6h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 326mm |
| Nov | 29° | 20d | 90% | 8.3h | avoid | monsoon: 20 rainy days, 320mm |
| Dec | 30° | 8d | 84% | 10.3h | okbusy | holidays: GB: Christmas Day; GB: New Year's Day; PA: Christmas Day |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the centre, 20 km from the airport (PTY): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Panama City's March days now average 32.1°C, 2.0°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 28.8° | 29.5° | 30.1° | 30.0° | 28.8° | 28.3° | 28.4° | 28.3° | 28.2° | 27.8° | 28.1° | 28.3° |
| 2017–26 | 30.6° | 31.4° | 32.1° | 31.6° | 29.9° | 29.2° | 29.6° | 29.5° | 29.2° | 28.7° | 28.6° | 29.8° |
| Change | +1.8° | +1.8° | +2.0° | +1.6° | +1.2° | +0.9° | +1.2° | +1.1° | +1.0° | +0.9° | +0.5° | +1.4° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Panama City is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Bogota
- from Miami
- from Lima
- from Mexico City
- from New York
- from Chicago
- from Boston
- from Toronto
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Panama City, flying or not.
Before you go
| Cost of living | cheap — prices run about 45% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025) |
|---|---|
| Currency | Panamanian balboa |
| Languages | Spanish |
| Plugs | Type A and B, 110 V |
| Driving | On the right |
| Calling code | +507 |
| Travel advice | No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-10-07 Exercise normal security precautions (with regional advisories) — Global Affairs Canada, updated 2026-09-29 Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution — US State Department, updated 2026-08-19 |
| Health | UK Foreign Office health advice |
Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.Travel advice for American readers is the US State Department's (public domain), and for Canadian readers Global Affairs Canada's (Open Government Licence - Canada), each in its own words and written for its own citizens; entry rules depend on your passport.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Panama's currency, the balboa, is used interchangeably with the US dollar. Counterfeit US$50 and US$100 notes have been a problem, so carry small US bills. People have been attacked after withdrawing cash: use ATMs inside a bank or shopping centre where you can.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Getting around Panama City
At Tocumen airport (PTY), a shuttle at street level links Terminals 1 and 2 with the Metro's Aeropuerto station, on a branch of Line 2: ride it to Corredor Sur, then take a train from platform 2 towards San Miguelito, where Line 1 runs on into the city. A ride costs $0.35 on Line 1, $0.50 on Line 2 and $0.85 on both, paid with a rechargeable Metro card sold for $2.00 at the machines in every station.
- Apps — Rides: DiDi, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Registered taxis are yellow and have no meters: fares depend on the number of zones crossed, so agree the fare before you set off, carry small notes, sit in the back and tell the driver you do not want to share. Taxis at official stands, found at malls, hotels and transport hubs, are generally safe; otherwise use a ride-hailing app or transport arranged by your hotel.
A Metro opened in 2014, and is by far the preferred method to get to the places it serves. However, there are still many places of interest not served by it. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Panama City, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 911 (any emergency) · police 104 · ambulance and fire 103.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (13)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/panama/getting-help
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/panama/safety-and-security
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/panama
- web.didiglobal.com/pa/conductor/ciudades
- web.didiglobal.com/pa/conductor/ciudades/ciudad-de-panama
- uber.com/global/en/cities/panama-city
- elmetrodepanama.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Guia-de-Bolsillo-Ramal-EN.pdf
- elmetrodepanama.com/nuevo-sistema-de-recaudo-entra-en-fase-de-optimizacion-para-mejorar-la-experiencia-de-los-usuarios
- elmetrodepanama.com/tarifa-del-metro
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Panama City in pictures
What Panama City is like
Capital of Panama and the most populous city in the country, it is located on the Pacific coast, near the entrance of the Panama Canal. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Panama Canal. Not only one of the world's most important shipping connections, but also the very reason for which the modern country of Panama was created… More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Help a sailboat to cross the canal. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Panama City used to be the de facto headquarters of the US control over the Panama Canal and as the canal was and is of vital strategic and military importance… More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Be careful in Casco Viejo and the Panama Viejo ruins area. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Panama City, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Panama City
Nearby
- Cartagena Colombia · 466 km
- Medellín Colombia · 531 km
- Costa Rica Costa Rica · 583 km
- Bogota Colombia · 761 km
Kind of place
Panama City is in Panama, Latin America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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