From Tocumen into Panama City
The metro reaches the airport now. It costs 50 cents and almost nobody arriving knows it exists.
The metro, which is the thing nobody tells you
- Line 2 of the Panama City metro now has an airport branch, with stations at ITSE and Aeropuerto. This is recent enough that most published advice, and most taxi drivers, behave as though it does not exist.
- The fare is 50 cents. Line 1 costs 35. That is the whole price of getting into the city.
- You need a card, not cash. A Metro, MetroBus or RapiPass card is bought at the station, and the same card must be tapped on entry and on exit.
- It is not the fastest route to every neighbourhood - you will change at San Miguelito onto Line 1 for the centre - but it is immune to the traffic, which the taxi is not.
Taxi and ride-hailing
- The FCDO advises against hailing taxis in the street in Panama, on the grounds of vehicle condition and driving standards, and recommends ride-hailing apps or transport arranged by your hotel instead. That advice applies at the airport too.
- Airport taxis work on a fixed zone tariff rather than a meter, agreed before you get in. Ask the official desk in arrivals rather than a man in the hall.
- Uber and Cabify both operate in Panama City and are what most residents use.
- Traffic into the city is genuinely bad at peak hours - the airport is about 25 km out and the same journey can take 25 minutes or over an hour.
Buses
- The Corredor Sur toll road buses run to Albrook, the main terminal, and cost a fraction of a taxi.
- Albrook is where the whole country's long-distance buses leave from, so it is the right target if Panama City is not the destination.
Comments
No comments yet. Share the first one.
Share a tip
Sign in to continue.