Getting Around Panama

Panama is about the size of South Carolina and the Pan American Highway runs most of its length, so distances are manageable. The two exceptions are the islands, which need a boat or a plane, and eastern Darien, where the highway stops and the conditions of the travel safety guide apply.

Panama City

• The Metro. Central America's only subway: clean, cheap, air conditioned and genuinely useful, running on a rechargeable card you buy at any station. It will not take you everywhere but it takes you along the spine of the city quickly.
• Metrobus. The modern city buses, on the same card.
• Taxis and apps. Taxis are cheap and most have no meter, so agree the fare before you get in. Ride hailing apps work well and remove the negotiation. Use a booked car rather than a street hail after dark.
• ⚠ The diablos rojos. The hand painted, chrome trimmed, retired North American school buses that once ran the whole city have been progressively retired since the Metrobus arrived. Some still work routes in the suburbs and in Colon, and they are an experience. They are also fast, crowded and the standard theft advice applies with force.

Long distance buses

Everything leaves Panama City from the Albrook terminal, which is attached to a shopping mall and to a Metro station and is easier than it sounds. Buses to David, Santiago, Chitre and Colon are frequent, comfortable and cheap. ⚠ They are also air conditioned to a temperature that visitors consistently underestimate; the fleece in your bag is for the bus.

Flying

Domestic flights leave from Albrook, not Tocumen, and the two airports are half an hour apart, which has caught out a great many people connecting from an international arrival. Routes worth the fare: Bocas del Toro, David for the highlands, and the Guna Yala airstrips.

Boats

• Bocas del Toro. Water taxis connect the islands constantly and cheaply.
• Guna Yala. Small lanchas between the islands, arranged through where you are staying. Seas can be rough and afternoon crossings are worse than morning ones.
• The Pearl Islands. A fast ferry from the Amador causeway.
• Ask about life jackets and do not board an overloaded boat. It is a reasonable question and a reasonable refusal.

The canal railway

The Panama Canal Railway runs a passenger service from Panama City to Colon alongside the canal, on the alignment that replaced the colonial mule road. It takes about an hour, has an open observation car, and runs once each way on weekday mornings. It is the most enjoyable hour of transport in the country and it is worth arranging the day around. See the transisthmian route guide for what it replaced.

Driving, and the road to Guna Yala

Driving is straightforward on the main highways and the rental market is competitive. Take the full insurance, use guarded parking, and avoid driving at night outside the cities.

⚠ The road over the mountains into Guna Yala is a different matter: steep, sharp and frequently wet, with a permit and a checkpoint at the comarca boundary. Do not drive it yourself. The shared four wheel drive transfers that leave Panama City before dawn are the way everybody goes, and the drivers know the road.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Panama travel advice: the index to the entry, safety, regional and health pages this cluster draws on, and the standing guidance that no travel can be guaranteed safe. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Panama safety and security: the crime picture, the advice on demonstrations and roadblocks, and the standing guidance that no travel can be guaranteed safe. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Panama regional risks: the risk of violence near the Colombian border, the line running from Punta Carreto in the Comarca de Guna Yala on the Atlantic coast through Yaviza in the eastern Darien Province to Punta Pina on the Pacific coast, and the instruction to travel east of that line only in an organized group. Accessed 17 September 2026.