Book excerpt: For a limited time, receive a free Fodor's Guide to Safe and Healthy Travel e-book with the purchase of this guidebook! Go to fodors.com for details. Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for 80 years. Panama has become Central America's hottest destination. Looking beyond the country's famous, century-old canal, an increasing number of travelers are discovering Panama's vast jungles, remote islands, and rain forests filled with exotic birds. Panama City is the exciting, rapidly developing, hub--a vibrant metropolis with a colonial heart and excellent dining, lodging, and nightlife options, as well as an abundance of easy day-trip opportunities. This travel guide includes: · Dozens of maps · Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks · Multiple itineraries to explore the top attractions and what’s off the beaten path · Major sights such as The Panama Canal, Barro Colorado, Bocas del Toro, The Embera, Casco Viejo, and Land of the Guna · Coverage of Panama City, The Canal and Central Panama, Chiriqui Province, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Guna Yala (San Blas)