Page last updated: 05/17/12

Avenida Central

Thursday - September 11 - 10:11 PM Filed in: Panama

Avenida Central is one of Panama City’s main avenues, originating in Casco Viejo just a few feet from the front door of our apartment and running to the edge of the banking district. Today we took a little walk down Central to the “peatonal” section (pedestrian mall) to check out the shopping. This area of the city is not on the “must see” list of most tourists (some guidebooks even say avoid the area) but if you live in the city and want to find stuff at reasonable prices, this is the place. Plus it’s just an interesting, not sterile, slice of life in the big city - with real people going about their daily lives. Disneyland cute and perfect it is not!

On Central you can get custom-etched drinking glasses, plastic lawn chairs, clothing, office supplies, jewelry, candy or cigarettes, cell phones, groceries, electronics, appliances, junk, and trinkets. Cheap to expensive and everything in between. You can even stop and feed the pigeons, or get a snow cone. With a little exploring, be adventurous, you can find just about anything - Jane might even tell you where to get that bargain $1 shirt.