By the time travellers hear about the hip new part of town in a foreign city, it's usually too late. We might think we're cutting edge as we sip a cocktail in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg, Buenos Aires' Palermo or Brooklyn's Williamsburg, but the locals will have long been bemoaning the inflated prices and reminiscing about the good old days.

If you're looking to get ahead of the game, Panama City's Casco Viejo is as up-and-coming as it gets. Situated in the city's far west, with a waterside location looking across to the imposing downtown skyscrapers, it's a ramshackle maze of dimly lit residential streets and tumbledown colonial buildings.

Sometimes compared with the French Quarter of New Orleans, there's a faded romance to its townhouses, with their wrought-iron balconies and long, wood shutters. Although intimidating at first glance (and locals will advise you to avoid the so-called zona rojas