Panama Hat Museum in Azogues

Great service, on the pricy side. $198 for Panama hat.

Great experience with decent museum exhibits. Has a functioning workshop with artisans happy to take a moment to demonstrate and explain their craft. Beautiful rooftop cafe overlooking Rio Tomebamba.Museum is free and the hats are very reasonably priced.

I like this place, due you don’t have to pay to go inside. The quality is so good. Also, there a nice coffee place in the 2nd floor.

A good place to start to know the crafting of the worlds best hats: the ecuadorians. You can shop here a fresh well crafted hats and bags and other handicrafts. Beautiful city views from the coffee shop upstairs. I recommend.

Its a great place to go. You dont pay any entrance fee and get to now how are the hats made. Theres a cafe on the rooftop facing Tomebamba river.

Yes, I did buy yet another hat! Very nice café while youre waiting. They let me pick out a basic hat which they formed to the size that fit me properly and choose material for the hatband (if you want, they actually do have purple ones for those who have tan shoes with pink shoelaces, and you can also buy all kinds of crazy shoelaces in Quito and Cuenca, but thats another storyWorth the visit, you might get slightly lower prices on the low end hats in the markets, but they wont necesssarily be blocked and shaped specifically how you like them. Maybe $10 extra and you get a better selection, from less to very expensive hats, plus a bit of learning about all the processes.

Quick tour by local staff on how hats are made lasted about 15 minutes with our large group of kids. The selection of hats to purchase is minimal, but there is a nice coffee shop on the top floor with a view of the Tomebamba river.

Fine and beautiful hats at reasonable prices. You can ask them to customize your hat. They will make it for you in 30 minutes. Size, shape,

Right in the middle of shops & restaurants is a Panama hat museum, factory & shop. Gives you a basic history of the hats and how they are made. Their selection of hats is fantastic.

Nice to see.

Great view from the cafe ❤. I love my Sombrero we brought back to Canada

Nice place to get a personalised panama hat, while learning about the history and the process of the Panama hat! And if you choose a personalised one, you can see it being processed in front of you, or enjoy a nice cafe upstairs on the mirador with a great view

Got a nice demonstration on how to make the Panama Hat.The cafe have a very nice view.

Wonderful museum and store. Juan, young man at the front desk, was most helpful. Highly recommend a visit.

This hat museum, factory, and shop is all about the famous Panama hats. These iconic hats have always been made in Ecuador but were discovered on a global scale during the construction of the Panama canal.As you walk in, there are displays depicting the various stages of hat production, including many of the tools which were used in the past.This is also a working shop where you can see people pressing hats into shape with large machines and expertly sewing bands on the inside and outside. Select a finished hat from the displays or customize your own.There are certainly numerous places to purchase Panama hats around Cuenca and the rest of Ecuador - we even made the trip out to the womens hat cooperative in the little town of Sig Sig. But weve concluded that this is the best place to see the hat-making process in person and to find the widest variety of hats.Most of the hats start at $25 - the finer the weave, the longer it takes to make (several weeks by hand), producing a higher quality and more expensive product.Another fun thing about this museum is you can go up the stairs in the back to a nice overlook along the river. Theres a little coffee shop back there with fantastic views.For more recommendations on what to do in and around Cuenca, find our blog posts by searching: "Intentional Travelers Cuenca"

Self guided and only mildly interesting. Cafe on roof with marvelous view and comfortable chairs best feature.

Dont expect a typical museum when going here. Its more of a hat store with some exhibitions related to the classic "panama" hat. Apart from that, the service is great, you get to see how they make hats and it has a nice cafe on a terrace with great view

The museums is really cool and informative about how the hats used to be made. The items in the museums are very pretty and you can find hats of many different colors. I got myself a blue one and it has a strip to adjust it to the desired size. The main attraction for me was the cafe found on the second floor. It has delicious drinks and the view to the river and across is plain beautiful. Definitively worth visiting the cafe if you enter the museum.

We bought two cute hats. They can adjust the size for you and the process is very interesting to learn. Price is fair and each hat is kind of unique!

Nice museum with awesome views from there coffee shop and reasonable prices for a Cuenca hat

The museum is small and mostly is a shop for hats. You can buy a tailor-made hat for a reasonable price. They also have a nice coffee shop with great view of the city

Nice brief history of the "Panama" hat and nice selection of hats that you can purchase at a fair price.

Interesting museum, large selection of hats in all sizes, and a beautiful outdoor cafe overlooking the river!

Make sure to stop by here and get yourself the famous Panama Hats. They will even teach you how they make them.

Perfect hat shop, Ive even bought one hat for myself. Prices are $30-$40 per hat

Beautiful museum, you can see in person how is the elaboration of Panama hats, you can buy directly the one you like the most as well as bags and enjoy a delicious coffee At the end of the tour

Nice shop/hat factory, well located in the center of town. Many options to shop for authentic "panama" hats. There are other options around town, but this one has the best location for most tourists imho.

Great place to visit and learn. This place shows how hats are made and has a wide selection of panama hats for both men and women. They do custom fitting and trims at no extra charge. We had one ladys hat made and mine fixed with new pressing and trim. Cost is very reasonable. Staff are friendly and helpful with no pressure to buy anything. Visiting this place was a real pleasure.

Fun hat shop and museum. Dont miss the rooftop cafe!!! Great view, find stairs way in the back of the shop.

Great hats and nice view from cafe

The staff was great, especially Jose who looked at photos of hats I wanted to purchase and had them made and ready in 4 hours!

This is a great place to learn about how Panama hats are made and formed. Its primarily a store, but there are lots of side exhibits that are very educational. The prices are very reasonable for the hats on sale, as well.

The cafe on the roof is awesome. Great view of the river and the south side of city. The museum itself was unremarkable and had tourist trap prices. Would not buy a hat there unless you are extremely pressed on time.

Great shop for the traditional toquilla straw hats, nice people and amazing view point in the Barranco but as a museum is a small place.

It is a store, in fact. There are a couple of old machines to see and visitors have to ask for opening a room where more antiques are displayed. Staff is only for selling hats. It is within walking distance from the Calderon Park.

More like a shop than a Museum. Still interesting even though you can find better places in Cuenca. They have a nice terrace in the back with a panorama on the city. It’s worth passing by when you’re downtown.

In a snap shot you can visit a wonderful museum about panamahat history, you can visit a shop with an amazing variety of hats tailor made and after that relax and with a coffee at the terrace enjoying the best view of Cuenca city. A must to see place

A great place to spend an informative afternoon- free entrance. The terrace has a beautiful view of the city! Well worth visiting

This is actually a hat store (rather than a museum). They have a very large selection of styles, sizes, and weave quality. My wife and I were able to find hard we liked easily. Theyll also package the hat ready for transportation in a sturdy box with a shape retaining block to prevent crushing. You should visit the cafe on the roof of the building. We got a free coffee with the purchase of each hat. Nice view of the river.

Its a great place to buy hats. The prices and styles are varied, from Panamas and Cowboys to Duckbills and Chupallas, priced from to $20 to over $100. Theyre made on the premises and you can watch them being made and have them customize a hat for you. Theres a lot of old machinery, around, some used some collecting dust. If you want to call that a museum ... fine. The best part of the "museum" is in the back and up the stairs to the coffee shop. It has a great view, and is a nice quite place to sit.

Lovely place, staff very professional and respectful.

Favorite spot to spend time in Cuenca! Great coffee, tea and frozen drinks, all with a beautiful view.

Great atention! , good quality sombreros😑👍

I ended up here at the end of a free walking tour that begins daily on the south side of Parque Calderon. The selection of hats is excellent and the demonstration of how the hats are finished was very interesting as well. Worth a stop if you have any interest in Ecuadors famous hats.

A wonderful place to buy authentic Panama Hats.The store has a superb choice of hats available. The prices are excellent and the sales people are knowledgeable and professional. Also, if you buy one of their hats, you get a coupon for a free beverage in the cafe upstairs. Even if you do not get a hat here, make sure to visit the cafe. It is comfortable and spacious, and has a superb view of Cuenca and the Tomebamba River. Highly recommended !

Interesting 4th generation run museum with English guides. Great selection of Panama hats. Nice little rooftop café with a beautiful view of the town and part of the river

Thats not a museum, its a shop where people make hats while they try to sell you a sombrero. They have a good coffee in the coffee shop aside the main shop.

The demonstrations were fun, but this "museum" is basically a gag to get you to buy their overpriced hats.

Colorful and friendly place! There was so much to learn about how sombreros are made. Then after all the excitement, you can relax on the terrace with a cup of coffee enjoying the amazing view of Cuenca..

This place has a nice displayed of the history of crafting hats. If you buy a hat you get a free coffee/tea from the coffee shop this place has. Also from the rooftop you can appreciate a beautiful sight of Cuenca.