Panama in 2 Days on a Budget (Costs)
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Two days is Panama City only, and that is enough time to walk Casco Viejo, stand over the Miraflores Locks, and get a first read on a capital where colonial rooftops sit under a glass tower skyline. Most passports get 90 visa-free days (180 for US and Canadian travelers), airlines want 6 months of passport validity, and every international flight lands at Tocumen International (PTY), Copa’s hub. Cash here is the US dollar itself, not just an accepted currency, the balboa exists only as coins, so there is nothing to exchange.
Book these before you go
- Miraflores Locks entry , buy same day or ahead, the current adult price runs around $17
- A Panama City hotel in or near Casco Viejo, the walkable base for both days
- A Casco Viejo walking or food tour if you would rather have a guide fill in the history
Day 1: Casco Viejo and the canal
Casco Viejo costs nothing to wander: cobblestone streets, the Metropolitan Cathedral, Plaza de Francia’s memorial to the French canal attempt, and rooftop views over the bay. It is tourist-policed and safe by day, but keep your phone and bag close in the crowds, and there is no reason to wander toward El Chorrillo or Curundú. Lunch at the Mercado de Mariscos, a short walk from the old town, gets you ceviche made to order for one of the cheapest good meals in the city.
In the afternoon, an Uber or taxi (about 15 to 20 minutes from Casco Viejo) puts you on the Miraflores Locks observation deck as ships rise or drop about 26 meters between oceans, guided by electric “mule” locomotives that stabilize the hull rather than tow it, the canal itself is gravity-fed. The four-floor museum and IMAX film fill an hour if a ship is not due. Verify the current ticket price at visitcanaldepanama.com before you go, it changes year to year.
Day 2: skyline and the causeway
Start at the Amador Causeway, built from the rock the canal itself displaced, for a flat waterfront walk or bike ride with the Panama City skyline behind you and container ships queued offshore. The Biomuseo, Frank Gehry’s 2014 building at the causeway’s start, covers how the isthmus’s rise about three million years ago split one ocean into two, a good air-conditioned stop at midday. In the afternoon, the Panamá Viejo ruins, the original city Henry Morgan destroyed in 1671, and Casco Viejo together form one UNESCO listing, the Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá , even though they sit on opposite sides of the modern city.
The Metro (Lines 1 and 2 are open; a planned Line 3 is not running yet) covers most of this ground for a few cents a ride if you would rather not taxi everywhere. Tap water is safe to drink in the city, and malaria is not a concern here, it only shows up in the Darién and the indigenous comarcas. The one place in Panama that is genuinely off-limits is the Darién Gap toward the Colombia border, a State Department do-not-travel area ; it is a roadless jungle crossing nowhere near this itinerary.
A realistic two days runs $40 to $60 a day on a hostel bed, street food, and the Metro, or $100 or more with a private room and taxis throughout. Either way, two days only scratches Panama City’s surface. Add a Caribbean day trip or a San Blas overnight and the 3-day or 4-day itinerary picks up from here. For how the locks and Gatún Lake actually work, see the Panama Canal explained ; for choosing between viewpoints, see visiting the Panama Canal .