Page 58 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

56 Panama City CasCo Viejo and around
1 Casco Viejo and around
Most of Panama City’s historical monuments and tourist attractions are concentrated
in the colonial city centre of San Felipe – more commonly called Casco Viejo
(sometimes Casco Antiguo) – which is the best place to start your explorations. For
centuries the heart of Panama City’s social and political life, and still home to the
presidential palace, Casco Viejo, after decades of neglect, was declared a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1997 and is gradually being restored to its former glory. The
subsequent gentrification is not without its problems: while upmarket restaurants and
cafés sit alongside chic offices and apartments in renovated colonial buildings, poor
families are gradually being squeezed out and prices are rocketing. That said, Casco
Viejo is an exceedingly pleasant place to visit – and the visible presence of the tourist
police means it is safe to explore, during the day at least. Caution should still be
exercised when walking around at night, however; stick to the well-lit streets, and
avoid straying into the adjacent neighbourhoods of El Chorillo and Santa Ana.
The best way to see Casco Viejo is to walk – you can get there by taxi or by taking
any bus, or the metro, to Plaza Cinco de Mayo.

Avenida Central
From Plaza Cinco de Mayo you can walk up Avenida Central, past Parque Santa Ana
and the famous Café Coca Cola (see p.79), as it narrows into a cobbled street, passing
through the now invisible city walls into the historic centre. The rows of lottery ticket
sellers – who number more than ten thousand across the country – doing a brisk trade

N
C ALLE S AL SI PUE D ES CALLE 12 AVENIDA ELOY ALFARO CALLE 3 Palacio Bolívar
Plaza Cinco de Mayo (700m) Santa ana CALLE 11 CALLE 8 Presidencial CALLE 5 San Felipe CALLE 4 BOLÍVAR & Salón Bolívar
Palacio
iglesia de
iglesia y Convento
iglesia
PLAZA
San Francisco de asís
Parque
de neri
teatro
Santa Ana
CALLE 7
CALLE 6
Casa de la CALLE 9 AV E N I DA B nacional
municipalidad iglesia atm AVENIDA 6 Catedral nacional
Palacio
de la
metropolitana
AVENIDA CENTRAL
Supermercado CALLE 10 ESTE merced PLAZA DE A V E N I D A C E N T R A L tourist
Rey AVENIDA CENTRAL LA CATEDRAL Police Club de
museo de Historia atm Clases y
de Panamá museo iglesia y Convento tropas
CALLE 12 OESTE
del Canal
SANTA ANA C JOSÉ DE OBALDÍA La Compañía CALLE 7 interoceánico de Santo Domingo
PLAZA
La Boyacá HERRERA de Jesús
museo de arte
C A L L E 1 3 O E S T E
Bastión A V E N I D A A Barefoot Religioso Colonial
mano Bank Panama CALLE 6 CALLE 5 PASEO ESTEBAN HUERTAS
de tigre
EL CHORRILLO & atm
iglesia de CALLE 2 CALLE 1
C A L L E 1 1 O E S T E
San José
instituto nacional de Cultura
(inaC)
Bahía de teatro anita Villalaz
0 200 Panamá PLAZA DE
FRANCIA
metres
CaSCO ViEJO
aCCOmmODatiOn EatinG DRinKinG & niGHtLiFE SHOPPinG
American Trade Hotel 6 Café Coca-Cola 2 The Fish Market 5 Danilo’s Jazz Club 5 Casa Latina Panamá 2
The Central Hotel 4 Caffè Per Due 9 Fonda León 10 Mojitos (sin Mojitos) 6 Galería de Arte Indígena 3
Las Clementinas 2 Calicanto 7 Granclement 6 Piña Cala Vera 1 Reprosa 1
Los Cuatro Tulipanes 5 Casa Sucre Mähalō 11 Relic 2 La Ronda 4
Hospedaje Casco Viejo 7 Coffee House 1 René Café 3 Tántalo 3
Luna’s Castle 1 Donde José 4 Super Gourmet 8 Teatro Amador 4
Magnolia Inn 3
050-089_Panama_3_Ch1.indd 56 30/06/17 11:49 am