12 Best Shopping in Panama City, Panama

Many of the bags, baskets, necklaces, and other items in this colorful shop are the product of recycling, made from magazine pages, flip tops, and other trash. Others are made from natural fibers, and almost everything is the work of families in the Panamanian countryside, so they're good for the environment, and people.

One of Panama City's best spas, the Aqua Spa is located on the fourth floor of the Radisson Decapolis. If the treatments there don't leave you sufficiently relaxed, you can always top them off with a martini by the pool bar.

The Avenida Central pedestrian mall, a short walk from Casco Viejo, is lined with shops selling cheap, imported electronics, jewelry, fabrics, and clothing. A stroll down this busy street can be quite entertaining, even if you don't buy anything. Avoid the side streets.

A good place to shop for molas is the Centro Municipal de Artesanías Panameñas, a small market where most of the stands are owned by Kuna women, who are often sewing molas as they wait for customers. They also sell chaquiras, bags, hammocks, dresses, framed butterflies, T-shirts, and other souvenirs.

Flory Saltzman Molas has the country's biggest mola collection—thousands of those colorful creations divided by theme and quality, and stacked to the ceiling. The quality of their collection varies greatly, and the good ones tend to cost considerably more than the Kuna vendors charge on the streets, or in the markets.

This shop (formerly known as Artesanías Panamá Bahía) sells a mixture of Panamanian and Ecuadoran souvenirs, including an ample selection of Panama hats, from its new location in Bellavista, conveniently close to many hotels.

La Ronda is an attractive little shop in a historic building near Plaza Francia that sells a mix of handicrafts and souvenirs: molas, Carnaval masks, wood carvings, paintings, Panama hats, and assorted knickknacks.

The Mercado de Artesanía de Panamá Viejo, next to the Centro de Visitantes (Visitor Center), is packed with small shops and stalls selling everything for indigenous handicrafts—many shop owners are indigenous—to woven hats, Carnaval masks, and other artisans' works from the country's interior. A number of Guna families have shops here, making it a good place to buy molas.

Masks, hammocks, and other handicrafts tend to be relatively inexpensive at the Mercado de Buhonería, a small market behind the old train station, just east of Plaza Cinco de Mayo, that receives few visitors. If you visit the Avenida Central pedestrian mall, you should definitely stop by here.

Sensory Spa by Clarins is a state-of-the-art, full-service spa with 16 treatment rooms and a vast menu of treatment options as well as holistic therapies such as Shiatsu and Reiki. It employs the latest technology in relaxation therapies, including Clarins' signature "Thermal Circuit Experience," which alternates hot, cold, and hydrotherapy experiences.

The flashy Veneto Hotel and Casino, on busy Vía Veneto, may seem like the last place you'd go to escape the hustle and bustle, but the large spa on the hotel's seventh floor is actually a very tranquil spot.

The Ygia Spa, in the Sheraton Panama, next to the ATLAPA convention center, offers an array of options ranging from the traditional massages and beauty treatments to "rejuvenation sessions" that can last anywhere from one to three hours.