The Trans-Isthmian Route

A full-day historical journey across the Panamanian isthmus, following the route that shaped the country's identity: from Spanish conquistadors to Gold Rush adventurers, to the Canal that finally connected the two oceans.

The tour begins with pickup at your hotel and a transfer to the Agua Clara Locks Visitor Center, opened in 2016 as part of the Canal's expansion — a US$5.25 billion project that included dredging, straightening bends along the navigation route, and building two new sets of locks, increasing the Canal's capacity by 50% and allowing the passage of Neopanamax ships, nearly three times larger than those crossing the original locks, carrying up to 14,000 containers and paying average tolls of US$850,000 per transit.

From Agua Clara, the route crosses west over the Canal to San Lorenzo National Park, with the chance to spot wildlife such as howler monkeys, two- and three-toed sloths, coatis, and keel-billed and chestnut-mandibled toucans. The tour continues to San Lorenzo Castle, at the mouth of the Chagres River — a Spanish colonial bastion built in 1601, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which fortified the river entrance to the Las Cruces Trail toward Panama City, and later served as a port of entry for gold-seekers en route to California in the mid-19th century.

Lunch is enjoyed at a local restaurant at Shelter Bay Marina, on the former site of Fort Sherman, a US military base built in 1910 to protect the Gatún Locks. On the way back, the route crosses the Atlantic Bridge, with the option to detour past the former military grounds of Fuerte Espinar (once Fort Gulick), Fuerte Davis, and the residential area of Margarita, once home to US military personnel and their families — optional stops your guide can include depending on your interest.

Four centuries of history in a single journey, from the conquistadors to the Canal, with the entire isthmus as the stage.