Time difference Panama

Time zone GMT - 5 hours. There are no seasonal time changes in Panama.

Compared withFrance: - 7 hours from late March to late October. - 6 hours from the end of October to the end of March (in December, when it's 10am in Panama, it's 4pm in France). Same time as Quebec in winter (- 1 hour in summer). Same time as Colombia, but +1 hour ahead of Costa Rica and the rest of Central America.

Opening hours Panama

To see / To do Panama

Most of the museums are open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9-10 am to 4-5 pm. They are closed on Mondays and holidays. There is not much influence in the Panamanian museums, except in the most prestigious ones such as the Biomuseo and the Miraflores Visitor Center, where you can observe the passage of the locks of the Panama Canal.

Enjoying yourself Panama

You can eat at any time in Panama, many informal restaurants are open continuously from 7am. In the capital, there are even some cafeterias open 24 hours a day... But in general, you can have breakfast(el desayuno) in the restaurant, or in your hotel, between 7 and 9 or 10 am, and lunch(el almuerzo) between 12 and 3 pm. For dinner(la cena), restaurants serve between 6:30-7pm until 10pm, or later in the capital. However, be careful in rural areas, it is often difficult to find a place to eat after 7pm.

Take a break Panama

Cafés open around 9am and close around 7pm, or much later. Happy hours are common in bars in tourist areas.

(To) please yourself Panama

Stores andmalls are generally open every day, from 10am to 8pm or 9pm on weekdays, from 11am to 7pm or 8pm on Sundays and holidays. Supermarkets are open from 7am to 9 or 10pm. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, some were open 24 hours a day, but this no longer appears to be the case in early 2023.

Neighborhood grocery stores (" chinos") have very variable hours, but generally from 6:30 a.m. until about 10 p.m., continuously.

Get out Panama

Except in Bocas, where the nights can be hot, the small towns remain quite calm, especially during the week. It is in the capital that the evenings and nights are the most animated. The beginning of the week is obviously quieter, but there is plenty of fun to be had every night, especially in Casco Viejo. The party really starts on Thursday, until Saturday night. The terraces of the cafés and the rooftops fill up around 6 pm, the nightclubs around midnight, to close around 3 am, 4 am on weekends.

Beware of the ley seca (the "dry law"): on certain religious or election eves, the law prohibits the sale of alcohol, including in bars.