Panama Honeymoon: Colonial Charm, Highlands & San Blas

Today you share the great canal and the romance of the old town. In the morning you visit the Miraflores Locks, standing together beside the mighty Panama Canal as giant ships are raised and lowered between the oceans, an awe-inspiring spectacle, and learn the epic story of its construction, perhaps toasting the moment over a drink overlooking the locks. Later you wander colonial Casco Viejo at your own pace, admiring its plazas, baroque churches, the golden altar of San Jose and rooftop views, browsing craft shops for a mola textile or Panama hat, and savouring its cafes and boutiques. The engineering and colonial romance are captivating. As the day ends, you return to your boutique hotel. This evening, enjoy a candlelit dinner of fresh ceviche and seafood in the old town. Rest well together, for tomorrow you escape to the misty coffee highlands.

Today you escape together to the cool, misty coffee highlands of Boquete. You transfer to the airport for a short, scenic domestic flight west to David, then drive up into the mountains to Boquete, set amid misty peaks, flower gardens, rushing rivers and world-class coffee country beneath Volcan Baru. The fresh mountain air, greenery and beauty are a wonderfully romantic contrast to the tropical lowlands. You settle into a charming highland lodge and, in the afternoon, stroll the flower-filled gardens and riverside hand in hand, or simply relax together and savour the cool, invigorating climate and mountain views. As the day ends, you savour the peace and beauty of the mountains. This evening, enjoy fine local cuisine and world-class Panamanian coffee by the fire. Rest well together amid the misty mountains, for tomorrow you share coffee, cloud forest and volcanic hot springs.

Today you share the romance and refreshment of the highlands. You tour a world-class coffee farm together, learning how Panama's prized Geisha beans are grown, hand-picked and roasted, and tasting exquisite coffee at its source amid the misty slopes. You walk hand in hand in emerald cloud forest alive with jewel-like hummingbirds and the chance of the magnificent resplendent quetzal, and visit beautiful waterfalls and flower gardens. In the afternoon you soak side by side in natural volcanic hot springs, letting the warm, mineral-rich water ease and relax you amid the forest, a blissful and romantic mountain pleasure. The coffee, beauty and warmth are wonderful. As the day ends, you return to your lodge. This evening, savour a romantic highland dinner and coffee. Rest well together amid the mountains, for tomorrow you fly to your private-island paradise in San Blas.

Today you journey to your idyllic private-island honeymoon paradise in San Blas. You take a short scenic flight back to Panama City, then transfer by 4x4 over the forested mountains and down to the Caribbean coast, where a boat carries you out across turquoise seas to the San Blas archipelago of Guna Yala, a vision of paradise scattered with palm-fringed islets. You settle into a simple, romantic beachfront cabin on a palm-shaded island, steps from the warm, crystal-clear sea, and spend the afternoon swimming together, snorkelling the reef, and lazing in a hammock as the sun sinks over the water. Utterly secluded and unplugged, this is Caribbean romance at its purest. As the day ends, you dine on fresh lobster and seafood beneath a canopy of stars. Rest well together amid the islands, lulled by the sea.

Today you savour a blissful barefoot day together in the idyllic San Blas islands. You are sailed by boat across the turquoise archipelago to deserted sandbank islets crowned with a few leaning palms, where your footprints may be the only ones, swimming together in the warm, crystal-clear sea, snorkelling over vivid coral reefs and a picturesque shipwreck, and lazing on postcard-perfect beaches with nothing to do but savour the beauty and each other. You visit a natural sea pool of astonishing turquoise clarity, and may meet the Guna and admire their colourful mola textiles. Barefoot, secluded and utterly beautiful, this is honeymoon paradise. As the day ends, you return to your island. This evening, enjoy fresh seafood and a spectacular sunset over the sea. Rest well together amid the islands, unplugged from the world.

Today you enjoy a final, unhurried day of island seclusion together in San Blas. With nowhere to be and no one to disturb you, you laze on your palm-shaded beach, swim and snorkel in the warm, gentle sea, and drift in a hammock beneath the palms, savouring the calm and beauty of paradise. You might be sailed to one more deserted islet or sea pool for a private swim and picnic, or simply do nothing at all, soaking up the sun, the turquoise water and each other. Barefoot and blissfully unplugged, it is the perfect romantic escape. As the day ends, you watch a final glorious sunset over the sea. This evening, enjoy a farewell dinner of fresh lobster and seafood beneath the stars. Rest well together amid the islands, for tomorrow you begin your journey home.

This morning you savour a final swim and breakfast on your private San Blas island before boarding a boat back across the turquoise sea to the coast and transferring by 4x4 to Panama City, in time for your onward international departure. You leave having shared a romantic, varied and utterly memorable honeymoon through the loveliest corners of Panama, boutique nights in colonial Casco Viejo, the awe of the great canal, the misty coffee highlands of Boquete, and three barefoot nights on your own private-island paradise in idyllic San Blas. The images stay vivid long after you land, the sunset cocktails above the old town, the giant ships in the locks, the misty coffee mountains, and the palm-fringed island where you dined beneath the stars. Panama offers romance, beauty, variety and barefoot luxury in abundance, and you depart hand in hand, already dreaming of a return to the beautiful isthmus.