The long, curved stretch of land that makes up Panama has for years been a valuable mean of communication between Costa Rica to the north and Colombia - and the rest of South America - to the south. And at the southern end of the famed Panama Canal, connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic in just 67km, is Panama City, a modern and a surprisingly diverse Latin capital. Or perhaps not when you think about it: it's almost a natural consequence of the old colonial days, of new ideas infiltrating down from the US, and of the country's unrivalled geographic position. And mixed in this old world charm and upbeat new world you have a Caribbean flair and Latin energy that many cities can only dream of. So as long as you don't mind roads and skyscrapers springing up alongside palm trees along the BahÃa de Panamá, you'll find Panama City to be an exciting, tropical, and altogether unpredictable, package.
