Travel + Leisure Called Panama the Most Underrated Country in Central America

Travel + Leisure asked five travel experts to name the most underrated country to visit. All five said Panama. The reasons had almost nothing to do with the canal.

What stood out to me: Aubrey Jackson, a luxury travel advisor at Bespoke Bookings Co., described Panama City as having two completely different personalities. She books clients into the W Hotel for the modern skyline experience, then sends them a short drive away to Casco Viejo, the old town, to stay at Hotel La Compañía, a restored 17th century monastery. That happens to be the same hotel I use as a closing stop on two of my own tours.

A few other points came up. Panama runs on the US Dollar. English is widely understood in tourist areas. Flights from major US cities are short and direct. There's a sport fishing scene going back to the 1960s, the San Blas Islands and a chance to meet the Guna people who govern them, and coffee, specifically the farms in the Chiriquí Highlands around Boquete, worth planning a whole trip around according to the article's author.

Here's the part worth noticing if you're actually considering a move here, not just a vacation: every one of those points describes a few good days in Panama. None of them describe what it's like to actually live here.

That gap is what I spend my time on.

the city's two personalities

The contrast between modern Panama City and Casco Viejo, what the article calls the city's two personalities, matters well beyond the photo opportunity. It's a real decision point once you're asking where you'd actually want to rent an apartment, not just where you'd want to take a picture. The dollar and the English are nice conveniences for a tourist. For someone weighing a move, they're two of the biggest reasons relocating here is easier than most people expect.

And the coffee culture the article sends readers two hours into the mountains to find? A proper, sit-down version of it exists right in the city, no highland drive required. That's the whole idea behind my Casco & Coffee tour: real coffee, real expertise, a short walk from wherever you're staying.

Travel writers are scouting a good week. I'm looking at whether Panama works for the next chapter of someone's life. Different question, same starting point, the parts of this city that make good travel writing tend to hold up even better once you actually dig into them.

If you want the deeper version, that's what the tours are for.