Panama

Officially known as El Valle de Antón, this picturesque town is nestled in the crater of a huge extinct volcano, and ringed by verdant forests and jagged peaks. El Valle is a popular weekend getaway for urban dwellers in need of fresh air and scenery and is also a retirement community for foreigners, with some 200 resident expats from more than 40 countries. With an extensive network of trails, this is a superb place for walking, hiking or horseback riding. Nearby forests offer excellent birdwatching, and the valleys of El Valle are home to an impressive set of waterfalls and natural pools.

One of the most cosmopolitan capitals in Central America, Panama City is both a vibrant metropolis and a gateway to incredible tropical escapes.

With its Caribbean islands dotting a shock of blue waters, Bocas del Toro is all that's tropical. This is Panama’s principal tourist draw and it will no doubt provide some of your most memorable experiences. The archipelago consists of six densely forested islands, scores of uninhabited islets and the Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos, Panama’s oldest marine park.

One of the world’s richest biomes is the 2240-sq-mile (5790-sq-km) Parque Nacional Darién, where the primeval meets the present with scenery nearly unaltered from one million years ago. Even today in the Darién, the Emberá and Wounaan people maintain many of their traditional practices and retain generations-old knowledge of the rainforest. 

Colorful and full of Caribbean-style clapboard houses, Bocas del Toro (better known simply as Bocas town) was built by the United Fruit Company in the early 20th century. Today it is a relaxed community of West Indians, Latinos and resident gringos, with a friendly atmosphere that is contagious. It’s an easy place to adapt to and even easier to linger in.

David is Panama’s second-largest city and the capital of Chiriquí Province. It's more a center of agricultural industry than a cultural hub. Yet with foreign capital flowing into Chiriquí, David is rapidly gaining wealth and importance, and is poised to boom.

The archipelago’s most developed island is home to the provincial capital of Bocas del Toro. From the mid-1990s, foreign investors flooded the island, creating hotels, restaurants and condos while infrastructure for water, trash and sewage lagged far behind. Today the island, which runs on diesel, struggles to find a balance between satisfying development and serving community needs.

With white sand and waving palms, the islands of the turquoise Archipiélago de San Blas of the Comarca de Guna Yala are a vision of paradise. This is home to the Guna people, the first indigenous group in Latin America to gain autonomy. Though they have had contact with Europeans since Columbus sailed these waters in 1502, traditional identity and way of life remain paramount.

Panamá Province has a rich history of pirates, plunder and pearls. Although it's the most populous province in the country, Panamá can be as big or as small as you want it to be. Tranquil rainforests and sizzling beaches are yours to explore, and the comforts of the capital are never more than an hour away.

Chiriquí claims to have it all: Panama’s tallest mountains, longest rivers and most fertile valleys. The province is also home to spectacular highland rainforests and the most productive agricultural and cattle-ranching regions in the country. As a result, los chiricanos (natives of Chiriquí) take particular pride in their province and wave the provincial flag – in every sense – at the slightest opportunity.