Panama, a cosmopolitan city that offers an innumerable variety of attractions, which makes it the most versatile and modern city in Central America, with all sort of infrastructures and buildings that range from Spanish colonial ruins to some of the tallest skyscrapers within its region.

Panama is not only a HUB for international flights, but is also the biggest most important banking and business center in Latin America. With three very important Shopping Centers: Multiplaza Pacific Mall, Multicentro Mall and the Albrook Mall, in Panama you can find everything you are looking for, from really low priced items to designer’s stores.

A selection of the finest goods from around the world, all at unbelievably low prices can be found at Colon Free Zone, where virtually every major manufacturer in the world is represented. In Panama you can find excellent museums, beautiful parks, and an immense infrastructure of hotels, restaurants, convention centers, and top of the line medical facilities. First-time visitors are always amazed by Panama City's skyline of towering skyscrapers, which can be seen from far out in the Pacific Ocean. Many hotels offer light gambling in casinos and the city is famed for its lively nightlife of discotheques and shows.

About two miles from the center of Panama City are found the ruins of the first capital, known as Old Panama or Panama La Vieja, founded in 1519. Fragments of walls and arches stand in an open park, recalling the splendor of the Spaniard's first settlement on the Pacific Ocean. From here, expeditions were mounted to conquer the Inca Empire of South America. All of the wealth from Peru, Chile and California flowed to Spain through Old Panama.

The most impressive structures remaining are the cathedral, with a massive bell-tower, and the Bishop's House. In front of the ruins, alongside the ocean, is an artisan's market, full of native crafts, and a small restaurant with a fine view out to a bay where Spanish galleons and pirate ships once lifted sail.

To the opposite side of the city, is the historic center of today's capital known as Colonial Panama, or the Casco Antiguo; a quiet, charming district of narrow streets overlooked by the flower bedecked balconies of two and three-story houses. At its tip lies French Park, a monument to the French builders who began the Panama Canal, and the lovely French Embassy. On the walkway around the monument, visitors have a fine view of the Amador Causeway and Bridge of the Americas, and of Panama City's skyscraper skyline to the east. A plaque on the walkway commemorates the firing of canon shots to drive away a Colombian warship and consolidate Panama's independence from Colombia in 1903.

Built to provide a calm harbor for ships entering the Panama Canal, the Amador Causeway ex- tends from the mainland to connect four small islands offshore. A palm lined road runs the length of the causeway, with benches and a path for bicycling and jogging along side. The offices of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are found here, as well as the Marine Exhibition Center.