Miraflores (Panama)

Miraflores is the easiest place to watch the Panama Canal at work. Its visitor center sits beside the locks on the Pacific side, and from the viewing terraces you see ships raised or lowered through the chambers at close range, which explains how a lock canal lifts ships over the isthmus better than any diagram. Inside, interactive exhibits cover the canal's history and its role in world shipping. Plan around the works: the Panama Canal is modernizing the center, with construction running to the end of 2026, and it warns that the wait to get in can be longer than usual, especially around 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Allow plenty of time.