PA · Curated travel guide
Panama Canal, Isthmus of Panama, Volcán Barú and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Panama and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets.
Shipping route across Central America
An artificial waterway in Panama, 82-kilometer (51-mile) long, linking the Pacific with the Caribbean Sea. It crosses the Isthmus of Panama at its narrowest point and carries sea trade between the Pacific and the Atlantic.
Photo: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0
Narrow landstrip in Panama
Historically the Isthmus of Darien, the narrow strip of land between the Pacific and the Caribbean that joins South and North America, and home to the country of Panama and the Panama Canal.
Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC, Public domain
Highest mountain in Panama
An active stratovolcano and Panama's tallest mountain, 3,475 metres (11,401 ft) high, about 35 km (22 mi) from the Costa Rican border.
Photo: en:User:Halbinger, Public domain
Park in Panama
In Spanish Parque Internacional La Amistad, and once La Amistad National Park, a protected area spanning the border of Panama and Costa Rica, run jointly on UNESCO's advice after it joined the World Heritage list in 1983. With the biosphere reserve around it, it is one of Central America's most remarkable conservation areas, protecting a large stretch of wild tropical forest.
Photo: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0
Road bridge in Panama spanning the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal
A road bridge in Panama over the Panama Canal's Pacific entrance, designed by the American civil engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel and finished in 1962 for US$20 million.
Photo: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Bridge in Panama
A major crossing over the Panama Canal, built to relieve the crowded Bridge of the Americas and to take over from it as the carrier of the Pan-American Highway.
Photo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0
Depopulated village in Colón, Panama
Once the main Atlantic port of the Panamanian isthmus, and now a deserted village where Fort San Lorenzo stands. Both the ruined fort and the old village stand on a promontory above where the Chagres River meets the sea, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Colón.
Photo: Garcia.dennis, CC BY-SA 4.0
Artificial valley that is part of the Panama Canal
Once called Gaillard Cut, a man-made valley through the Continental Divide in Panama. Part of the Panama Canal, it joins Gatun Lake, and through it the Atlantic, with the Gulf of Panama and so the Pacific.
Photo: Jean-Philippe Boulet, CC BY 3.0
Hill in Panama City
A hill 199 metres (653 ft) high above Panama City, Panama, beside Ancón township. It was used to run the Panama Canal and was under U.S. jurisdiction within the Panama Canal Zone until it went back to Panama in 1977.
Photo: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0
Volcano in Panama
A huge stratovolcano in Panama's Veraguas Province, north of the Azuero Peninsula.
Photo: Unknown, Public domain
Officially the Republic of Panama, a country at the southern end of Central America, in North America, next to South America. Costa Rica lies to its west and Colombia to its southeast, with the Caribbean to its north and the Pacific to its south. Panama City is the capital and biggest city; its metropolitan area holds nearly half of the country's over 4 million people.
Officially The Republic of Panamá.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
This guide lists 10: Panama Canal, Isthmus of Panama, Volcán Barú and La Amistad International Park and others.
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Panama that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
Spanish. The currency is PAB.
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $6.00 for 1GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
movistar. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to movistar once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB per day Cheapest | 1 GB | 1 day | $6.00 | Get it → |
| 1GB for 7 days | 1 GB | 7 days | $6.35 | Get it → |
| 1GB per day | 1 GB | 1 day | $7.05 | Get it → |
| 2GB per day | 2 GB | 1 day | $11.29 | Get it → |
| 2GB per day | 2 GB | 1 day | $13.41 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $16.93 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.
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