Panama City Food Walk: Fish Market Ceviche & Casco Viejo
Day tour
Food tour
Standard
Departure point
→
Destination
Panama City, Panama
Panama City
1N (Participation Duration)
Walking (Transportation)
English (Language)
Number of participants 0/8
0 booked
Tour description
Panama is a crossroads and its food shows it: Spanish, Afro-Caribbean, Indigenous, Chinese and American influences all in one small country, plus a fish market ten minutes' walk from a UNESCO old town.
We start at the Mercado de Mariscos, where the boats land. Downstairs, at a counter, ceviche de corvina is sold in a plastic cup for a couple of dollars - sea bass cured in lime with onion and celery, eaten with a small spoon standing up. It is the best cheap thing in the country. Your guide will take you through the variations: pulpo, camaron, mixto.
Then we walk the Cinta Costera seawall into Casco Viejo, the old town the Spanish rebuilt in 1673 after Henry Morgan burned the first one down. Here: sancocho, the chicken and yam soup with culantro that Panamanians eat for a hangover and for comfort; carimanolas, yuca fritters stuffed with beef; hojaldras and ropa vieja at a cafe that claims to be the oldest in the country.
We finish with a raspado - shaved ice with fruit syrup and condensed milk - and an artisanal sorbet in guanabana or maracuya.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot.
We start at the Mercado de Mariscos, where the boats land. Downstairs, at a counter, ceviche de corvina is sold in a plastic cup for a couple of dollars - sea bass cured in lime with onion and celery, eaten with a small spoon standing up. It is the best cheap thing in the country. Your guide will take you through the variations: pulpo, camaron, mixto.
Then we walk the Cinta Costera seawall into Casco Viejo, the old town the Spanish rebuilt in 1673 after Henry Morgan burned the first one down. Here: sancocho, the chicken and yam soup with culantro that Panamanians eat for a hangover and for comfort; carimanolas, yuca fritters stuffed with beef; hojaldras and ropa vieja at a cafe that claims to be the oldest in the country.
We finish with a raspado - shaved ice with fruit syrup and condensed milk - and an artisanal sorbet in guanabana or maracuya.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot.
Meeting point:
View on map
Mercado de Mariscos, Avenida Balboa, Panama City
We meet at the entrance to the Mercado de Mariscos on Avenida Balboa, at the edge of Casco Viejo. Your guide will have a small sign with your name.
Detailed itinerary
Stop 1 - Mercado de Mariscos: The working fish market where the boats land, with your guide naming the Pacific catch.
Stop 2 - Ceviche by the cup: Corvina cured in lime with onion, celery and coriander, sold in a plastic cup for a couple of dollars. Plus octopus and mixed versions.
Stop 3 - Cinta Costera walk: The seawall from the market into the old town, with the skyline on one side and the Pacific on the other.
Stop 4 - Sancocho: Chicken and yam soup heavy with culantro - Panama's comfort dish - at a cafe that claims to have been open since the 1870s.
Stop 5 - Carimanolas and empanadas: Yuca fritters stuffed with seasoned beef and egg, and corn empanadas, from a Casco Viejo fonda.
Stop 6 - Casco Viejo walk: Plaza Catedral, Plaza Herrera and the Bovedas, with your guide on Henry Morgan, the canal and the old town's restoration.
Stop 7 - Raspado and sorbet: Shaved ice with fruit syrup and condensed milk from a plaza cart, and an artisanal guanabana or maracuya sorbet.
Stop 2 - Ceviche by the cup: Corvina cured in lime with onion, celery and coriander, sold in a plastic cup for a couple of dollars. Plus octopus and mixed versions.
Stop 3 - Cinta Costera walk: The seawall from the market into the old town, with the skyline on one side and the Pacific on the other.
Stop 4 - Sancocho: Chicken and yam soup heavy with culantro - Panama's comfort dish - at a cafe that claims to have been open since the 1870s.
Stop 5 - Carimanolas and empanadas: Yuca fritters stuffed with seasoned beef and egg, and corn empanadas, from a Casco Viejo fonda.
Stop 6 - Casco Viejo walk: Plaza Catedral, Plaza Herrera and the Bovedas, with your guide on Henry Morgan, the canal and the old town's restoration.
Stop 7 - Raspado and sorbet: Shaved ice with fruit syrup and condensed milk from a plaza cart, and an artisanal guanabana or maracuya sorbet.
Tour price includes
• Small-group English-speaking local food guide
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
Tour price excludes
• Hotel pick-up and drop-off unless stated
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
Cancellation policy
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour start time for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable. Tours run rain or shine; the wet season runs May to December.
Other notes
Runs Sunday and Tuesday to Saturday at 09:30. We do not run on Mondays, when the fish market traditionally closes for cleaning.
Safety: Panama is rated Level 2, exercise increased caution, and the risk is opportunistic - pickpocketing and bag snatching. Casco Viejo is restored, well policed and comfortable to walk. The neighbourhoods immediately west of it, including El Chorrillo, are not, and our route does not enter them. We stay inside the restored grid and the seawall.
Currency: Panama uses the US dollar, so there is no exchange to deal with. The fish market is cash; Casco Viejo restaurants take cards.
Water: Panama City's tap water is generally safe to drink, which is unusual in the region and makes this an easy tour on that front. We still provide bottled water.
Ceviche is raw fish. The market has very high turnover and this is the one place in the country where we are relaxed about it, but tell us if you would rather everything were cooked.
Wet season runs May to December; the dry season from January to mid-April is the best walking weather.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead.
About 2.5 km of walking, flat, on pavement and cobbles.
Safety: Panama is rated Level 2, exercise increased caution, and the risk is opportunistic - pickpocketing and bag snatching. Casco Viejo is restored, well policed and comfortable to walk. The neighbourhoods immediately west of it, including El Chorrillo, are not, and our route does not enter them. We stay inside the restored grid and the seawall.
Currency: Panama uses the US dollar, so there is no exchange to deal with. The fish market is cash; Casco Viejo restaurants take cards.
Water: Panama City's tap water is generally safe to drink, which is unusual in the region and makes this an easy tour on that front. We still provide bottled water.
Ceviche is raw fish. The market has very high turnover and this is the one place in the country where we are relaxed about it, but tell us if you would rather everything were cooked.
Wet season runs May to December; the dry season from January to mid-April is the best walking weather.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead.
About 2.5 km of walking, flat, on pavement and cobbles.
Detailed price list
| Guest type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adults | $59 |
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