The Real Adventurista Guide to Panama City, Panama
The Perfect 48 hour South America Layover for Fidgety Fliers over 40.
In my twenties, I could rawdog a 15-hour flight with nothing but a pack of almonds and a rom-com marathon. No problem. Now in my mid-40s, I’m done with that.
These days I start to twitch somewhere around hour six.
Unless I’m fully horizontal with a glass of Champagne and a sleeping pill doing the Lord’s work, I want off that plane at the halfway mark.
Unfortunately, there are few flights from San Francisco to South America, and rarely do those offer those glorious lie-flat overnight options. So I break it up. Enter: Panama City, the queen of stopovers and quite possibly the most underrated layover on the continent.
Panama: The Hemispheric Intermission You Deserve
Panama is perfectly placed—literally. It’s the continental hinge that connects North and South America. That makes it a geographically satisfying midpoint, but also a logistical dream:
Customs is efficient
Ubers are comically cheap ($4-$6 for a 20 minute ride)
Midway between North and South America
Excellent food scene + fun rooftop bars
Reasonably safe for a solo female traveller (caveat: see my real talk below).
Luxurious hotels for hostel prices
Case in point: I booked the Waldorf Astoria Panama for $150. That’s less than what some people pay for airport parking at SFO. It was like luxury tourism’s version of a drive-thru car wash—fast, transformative, and weirdly satisfying.
Would I Vacation Here for a Week? No. And That’s the Point.
Panama City isn’t trying to be your forever girl. She’s a strategic rebound. A confidence-boosting fling before the main event. The city as a whole is not particularly walkable, and unless you have a kink for humid skylines and honking, most of it isn’t built for lingering.
Casco Viejo, however, is another story.
Casco Viejo: Creative, Complicated, and Gloriously Alive
This historic district is giving old-world romance with a side of rooftop mojitos. It’s cobblestone streets and Spanish colonial charm, blended with modern-day buzz and some of the best seafood I’ve had on any coast. (I would sell minor internal organs for another bite of that coconut sea bass.)
If Old San Juan Puerto Rico (the other Spanish colonial Caribbean Capital), is pearls and pressed linens, Casco Viejo is silk and gold hoops. It’s not trying to be a museum—it’s trying to be unforgettable.
Let’s start with Aya La Vida, one of the most stunning restaurant spaces I’ve ever stumbled into. The design is part garden fantasy, part colonial dream, and entirely romantic. Think soaring space, sculpted plants, ambient lighting, and art in every corner. It feels like someone designed a restaurant with the express goal of seducing you—visually, culinarily, maybe spiritually.
The cocktails are dangerous in the best way. The food is exciting without being pretentious. And it’s not just a one-off—Casco Viejo is full of these moments. Rooftop mezcal bars. Inventive tasting menus. Young chefs with serious vision.
Where Old San Juan leans traditional, scrubbed, and polished, Casco Viejo is scrappy, hungry, and wildly creative. It’s pulsing with energy. You are spoiled for choice.
Go for the Canal. Stay for the National Shame.
If you do one cultural thing while you’re there—and I always try to do one—make it the Panama Canal Museum. Yes, I see you rolling your eyes. No, it’s not boring.
It’s a wild ride. Think shady U.S. intervention, imperial land grabs, French engineering disasters, and very compelling wall text. As someone with a decent liberal arts education and more passport stamps than wedding RSVPs, I was shocked by how much I didn’t know. It was fascinating, infuriating, and honestly better curated than half the museums I’ve paid triple for in Europe.
The Real Adventuristas Safety Note
(Because solo travel is fabulous—but not all neighborhoods are built for barefoot strolls and poetic moonlight epiphanies.)
Panama City isn’t quite the solo-stroll-at-midnight-with-an-ice-cream dreamscape. This is a point-and-shoot Uber city—you head where you’re going, enjoy the hell out of it, and then summon your chariot (via app) to get back.
Casco Viejo is the star here, but it’s still a bit of a mixed bag. One side of the street: design-forward cocktail bars and magazine-worthy restaurants. The other might have slightly haunted buildings that may or may not house feral cats be ready to collapse at any moment. It’s not unsafe, but it’s still up-and-coming—not yet manicured to within an inch of its life like, say, Old San Juan.
I will say that it is changing for the better, and fast. When I first visited in 2023, there were a lot more collapsing, graffitied building. My second visit, in 2025, was still gritty, but a lot of those gritty buildings had become 5 star restaurants with cult folllowings and instagram reels.
But for now, do as Brian would: Uber in, Uber out. And trust your instincts
The Adventuristas 48-Hour Layover Blueprint™
Whenever I stop in a city en route to somewhere bigger, I have a ritual. A system. A sacred formula for maximizing joy while minimizing jet lag:
A cultural hit that expands my worldview (Panama Canal Museum)
One really, really good massage or facial (Waldorf Astoria Spa)
A memorable meal (Casco Viejo is the go to neighborhood for great food and fun vibes)
Comfy hotel in a safe area (Waldorf Astoria, par example!)
And then back to the airport—centered, scrubbed, and ready for the next 6 hour slog down to Santiago Chile.
Next up: Santiago → Patagonia → Buenos Aires.
Follow along, fellow Adventuristas. I’m just getting started.
