We rented a driver and car...hit the east coast for lunch then the canal and back to PC for dinner...don’t recall cost, but it was cheap. You must visit the canal...and new one too!
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I hope you're not planning to drive in Panama City, unless you're with someone who knows the city well and can guide you. Street signs are few and far between. You have to know the safe route from A to B, and that's where GPS, especially one that is based on Google Maps, will get you into trouble. Casco Viejo is a maze of very narrow, one-way streets and parking is very difficult to find. I once waited for over 45 minutes while one of my Panamanian friends circled the area trying to find a parking spot. Drivers in the city are extremely aggressive and you have to know when to be aggressive and when to be defensive. Take Uber, the Metro or taxis. In the central city, traffic is so bad I usually walk from place to place because it's faster.
On the other hand, having a car to go to Portobelo and El Valle is the best way to get around those areas. If you haven't made reservations for a place to stay in Portobelo, Rey has a two-bedroom house he rents for $150 per night. It's very nice, about 15 minutes from Golden Frog Scuba (at El Bongo hotel), and the pool in the backyard is the Caribbean.
If you need driving directions or restaurant recommendations let me know.
I can verify that they aren't just rumors lolI have heard rumors about those missing manhole covers!
We have a rental car for the entire trip, so getting around will be as easy as the traffic in Panama will allow. Forgot about hitting the canal and canal museum, it's on the itinerary. Thankfully we have my sister as a semi local guide, as well as her team from the mission work to help direct us where to go and where not to go
We bounced around all over central Panama so an Uber wasn't practical for our needs this trip. If staying more central to Panama City then I strongly recommend that a visitor use Uber over renting a car. My son and i used an Uber to go from Amador to downtown one night to view the Christmas lights and it was like $3. We put on just shy of 3k kilometers while there for 11 days though. I got tire insurance, collision insurance, liability insurance, roadside insurance on the rental car. The insurance bill was twice the cost of the car rental all told. That being said, I would do it again. Feel we got a truer experience of Panamanian life driving through the city, through the countryside, and even to San Blas. You want to talk about bad roads, take the drive to San Blas in a standard when you haven't driven a stick in over a decade. I thought it was adventurous, my wife just thought it stressful.The only time I rented a car was from David to Boquete. We met a couple in Boquete that had rented a car for their entire trip. They blew out one tire and jacked up the rim on the bad roads. I wish I had kept in touch with them just to find out what the damage was to his wallet from the rental car company. BTW, the road from David to Boquete is flawless.
I want to go back to Panama and visit Bocas now that Delta has reasonable flight times. When we went, the flight got in at night and left early in the morning. If you wanted to fly to a destination, you needed to spend nights in Panama on the front and back ends of the trip. Now, I think it is possible to get to/from Bocas the same day as the international flights.
We Ubered while in Panama City. The last night we were there, we had an awesome Uber driver. I made private arrangements with him to take us to the airport the next morning for a discounted rate.