Santiago (Panama)

Introduction

Santiago is located in the middle of the province of Veraguas in three hours and half from Panama City. Santiago has its own bus terminal station, where you can travel to different places as the famous surfer's beach of Santa Catalina in the south, the colonial church of San Francisco or the mountains of Santa Fe.

Neighbourhoods

Santiago District comprises the following townships: Santiago, La Colorada, La Peña, La Raya de Santa María, Ponuga, San Pedro del Espino, Canto del Llano, Los Algarrobos, San Martín de Porres, Urracá, Edwin Fábrega, Carlos Santana Ávila, La Soledad, Rincón Largo, El Llanito and Rodrigo Luque.

Weather

Santiago, like the rest of Panama, has a hot tropical climate with temperatures mostly around or above 30 °C during the day and 20 °C at night. Most rain falls between June and November.

Getting There

By Plane

Santiago has no commercial flights. Ruben Cantú Airport is only used by private flights with small planes or helicopters.

By Bus

Buses from Panama City to Santiago leave from Albrook Terminal. The route is operated mainly by Expreso Veragüense and Sanpasa. Also the regular buses to David stop on the Pan American Highway (El Piramidal Hotel and Los Tucanes Resturant) in Santiago.

In Santiago Terminal, you will find buses to different townships of the province of Veraguas as Santa Fe, Soná, Atalaya, Cañazas, San Francisco, Mariato, Puerto Mutis, as well as the cities of Chitre, Aguadulce and David.

By Car

It takes about 3 to 3.5 hours by car between Panama City and Santiago. Santiago to/from David takes 2 hours.

Sleep

Santiago has a variety of hotels in all budget classes.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes can be found in cities and most major towns. Wifi is on the rise though with many hotels, restaurants and bars offering this services, especially in the major tourist areas like Panama City, Bocas del Toro and Boquete. Some mountainous or off the beaten track areas might not have any internet services at all.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Panama's country code is 507. All cellular numbers start with the number 6 and have 8 digits. Land line phone numbers have 7 digits. 911 is the general emergency phone number.

Calls to the USA and Europe are between 4 and 10 cents a minute. The best way to make international calls from Panama is to buy prepaid telephone cards that are sold at every corner. The most popular is the TeleChip card. If you bring your cellphone, you can choose to buy a local simcard, instead of paying high charges for internet use through your home provider.

Post

Correos y Telegrafos is the national postal company of Panama. It provides a wide range of services though you usually have to use the post offices for both sending and receiving mail and packages, including buying stamps. Post offices can be found in many cities and towns and are open from 6:30am to 5:45pm Monday to Friday and 7:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday. Domestic mail takes several days but to the USA and Europe for example it can take anywhere from 5 to over 10 days depending on the country. For sending larger packages, you might also consider using companies like FedEx, TNT, UPS or DHL, as they offer fast, reliable and competitively priced services as well.

External Links

• Official Website