Boquete sits in a long narrow valley on the eastern flank of Volcán Barú at about 1,200 metres of altitude, which keeps the climate cool, the rainfall plentiful, and the coffee excellent. The town itself is small and a little overrun — the population has roughly doubled in twenty years as American and European retirees moved in — but the surrounding fincas and trails are the point.
Coffee tours are the main daytime activity. Finca Lerida, Café Ruiz, and Janson Family Coffee all run two-hour walks through their plantations, finishing with a cupping in the roastery. The best Geisha-variety coffees from these estates fetch some of the highest prices in the world at international auction.
Beyond coffee, Boquete has hot springs at Caldera, zipline canopy tours, white-water rafting on the Chiriquí Viejo, and a network of hiking trails ranging from the easy Pipeline Trail to the gruelling overnight Barú summit. The town fills with Panamanians during the Feria de las Flores y del Café in mid-January.