Mia_O

We are taking a two week vacations in Panama in March.

Part of the trip will be looking at areas we might want to live in.

This will be highlands. We love beaches, heat is fun, but we could not bear unshaded temps over 80F day in and out. We will probably see Boquete but closer to Panama City interests more.

(Who know, Panama might not even be for us as a residence, but we are stoked about the vacation. I'll have questions for the holiday later.)

The place that interests most (with the limited knowledge at hand) is El Valle. That's because it is cooler, but yet, an hour from the beach and not too far from Panama City - if I have that right.

Do you think there many rentals in El Valle area, $450 to tops $800.00 per month?

MRWOOHOO

I have not been up there myself personally but I would imagine it can be done. It is a popular place outside Panama City and allot of people with money go there on the weekends but it is still the interior. I actually plan to travel that way in the next few days.

dsc

I stumbled onto this Visit Panama.com website just today.

I notice the 'Destination of the Month' in the upper right of the site, and as it happens it's talking about the Anton Valley:

http://visitpanama.com/html/dondeb.php?id=130

GordonS

Hi Mia_O,

One other consideration is whether you intend to travel extensively back and forth from El Valle. Since you indicated that would visit other parts of Panama, you should factor in that the road to El Valle is VERY narrow, twisty and hilly. Other drivers often travel very fast and don't slow down coming around corners toward you while cutting the corner on your side of the road. If you are not used to mountain roads and plan on driving yourself, you might find it quite nerve wracking. If roads like that bother you, I seriously suggest you might want to consider some other place to stay.

__________________
Gordon and Randy,
Canada

Ajay

El Valle is an old, well-established community, and I like to visit there. If I were considering living in El Valle I would also consider Altos del Maria, which is a residential development with electricity, water, sewage, sidewalks, etc. El Valle is in the center of an extinct volcano and Altos del Maria is on the side of the same mountain. The climate of the two places is similar, but Altos del Maria is on a newer, straighter road and is easier to get to than El Valle (about 1 1/2 hours versus a couple of hours for El Valle). However, the last time I looked Altos del Maria lacked things like restaurants and supermarkets.

fxtrader

I have friends and business associates who live in Altos de Maria with their families. They love it. It has enough stores and whatnot to get you through the week, but most of them come into Panama City for their big grocery shopping trips and (obviously) and decent sized purchases or electronics, etc.

One of them doesn't have air conditioning in his house and says it's very bearable just due to the altitude keeping it rather cool.