Relaxing Mountain Escape: Why you should visit El Valle de Anton, Panama

Located approximately 2 hours by bus from Panama City, El Valle de Anton is the perfect quick mountain retreat.  I love the beach and the sea, but I also wanted to see some mountains and forest on my trip to Panama.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time in my schedule to make it to Boquete, however, I found my mountain fix in Panama’s small, sleepy town of el Valle de Anton.

We arrived early in the afternoon after a 2 hour bus ride from Panama City.  Just in time for lunch, we dropped off our things at the hostel and walked around the little town. We grabbed some lunch at a little pizzeria and just chilled out for the afternoon.  The town is very small and you can get around by walking just fine.  There are a few small hotels and restaurants, it was by no means packed or bustling.  It’s the perfect low-key location for a relaxing couple of days.

Our first afternoon we spent strolling through the small town, stopping in for some food and a beer.  The next morning we woke up for a hike and went to the hot springs.  After grabbing some lunch, we took the afternoon bus back to Panama City.

How to get there

Getting there is so easy.  If you aren’t a fan of long bus rides, this is a great trip for you.  Depending on traffic leaving Panama City, the trip takes about 2 hours.  You can purchase tickets for the bus, which is a large van, in the Albrook bus station.  Our tickets cost $4.25 USD.  The bus leaves from Panama City’s Albrook station every 30 minutes from 6:30 am – 6:30 pm.  The ride was comfortable and air-conditioned.

If you have a car, you take the Pan-American highway going west and turn off at the town of Las Uvas.

Things to Do

There are several waterfalls in the area and many hiking trails.  La India Dormida is a mountain formation you can see when you hike up to the top of the mountain.  Most of the hiking trails are located close by town.  Only about a 5 minute cab ride.

There are also some hot springs.  We took advantage of the hot springs after a morning of hiking to calm our tired legs. The hot springs were only $3 USD admission and they felt great.  They had some mud treatment masks and different mineral baths to soak in.  Putting on the mud masks was a lot of fun! Bathing suits are required and there are showers and a changing area.  You can also get a massage while here, however, when we arrived in the morning the masseuse was out so we weren’t able to schedule one.

Where to Stay

We stayed in Bodhi Hostel in a private room.  The private rooms start at around $30 USD a night and the rooms were very comfortable and clean.  The showers had hot water that actually was hot.  This was nice especially as it was a little cooler in el Valle than it was in Panama City at night.  The vibe was very relaxed and quiet.  Breakfast is included and consisted of pancakes, coffee and some fruit.  The paintings on the wall and the general atmosphere made this one of my favorite hostels I’ve stayed in so far.

If you’re near Panama City and you’re looking to get out into nature or even just relax, el Valle de Anton is the perfect little retreat to escape from it all.