Half-Day Trip To Colon from Panama City, Panama

When you visit Panama I think most people want to see both oceans. The Pacific is easy because that's Panama City, but the Atlantic can be a challenge.

Colon is Panama's 2nd largest city and it's on the Atlantic side. But it is considered unsafe and tourists are strongly advised against going on their own. However, many guided bus tours are available.

I hate taking guided bus tours because you always end up wasting part of your valuable day going to places you don't care about or being dragged into jewelry stores, tea houses, etc.

Despite all the warnings, I decided to go to Colon on my own and use a local guide to visit the places I really wanted to see. Buses leave all the time to Colon from Panama City and if you time your day (or half day) correctly you can return to Panama City on a near-empty Panama Canal Railway train at about 5:00 PM which affords great views of the canal ($25 one way in 2019).

In summary, I took a bus from Panama City at noon to the Colon Bus Terminal and immediately got into a cab (very important - you must immediately get into a cab - but they are everywhere), went to the Radisson Hotel ($5 fare, 10 blocks) where I hired a guide who took me to the places I wanted to see and dropped me at the train station. The whole 6 hour turnaround cost me $110 and I did only what I wanted while avoiding any danger in Colon. I'm sure this could be done cheaper depending on how much time you want to spend and your negotiating skills, etc. I paid my guide $50 plus a tip for about 2-3 hours but it can probably be done cheaper. But by hiring a guide at the best hotel in town vs. using cab drivers I felt like I got a better experience.

I even had some time to eat a late lunch back at the Radisson Hotel before going to the train station (although snack food is available on the train).

Have fun visiting Colon. There are other attractions I didn't see, like the Colon Free Zone (shopping), and a fort and other historical areas nearby.

Видео Half-Day Trip To Colon from Panama City, Panama канала 90293Mike