Madagascar Itineraries

Recommended Madagascar itineraries

If you are planning your travel to Madagascar yourself, use these itineraries created by our travel writers as a starting point for inspiration.

Madagascar Itinerary 1 - The north: parks and beaches

Almost all trips in Madagascar start and end in Antananarivo. Allow 3–4 weeks to cover the north by a mixture of road and air travel – or skip half these stops and do it in 10–14 days.

1. Antananarivo

Give yourself a couple of days to visit the Rova palace compound and the old royal capital of Ambohimanga.

2. Parc National d’Andasibe-Mantadia

Get up early to walk into the indris’ territory and hear their extraordinary call. Then plan a night walk looking for chameleons and mouse lemurs.

3. Île Sainte Marie

Fly or ferry out to this old pirates’ hideaway, then rent a scooter and explore its jungle paths, clean beaches and limpid waters.

4. Nosy Mangabe

Organize a boat and guide to this fabled, forest-stacked island – home to aye-ayes, leaf-tailed geckos and a host of other species, some almost certainly still to be discovered.

5. Parc National de Masoala

Easily visited on the same trip as Nosy Mangabe, you can camp here with locals or stay in a fancy lodge on the beach. Either way, the steep paths of the Masoala rainforest start at your doorstep. Every minute of every hike yields wonderful sights and discoveries, from vangas to boas, from tenrecs to sportive lemurs.

6. Diego Suarez

Cosmopolitan, warm and breezy, Diego Suarez – with its picturesque views and superb watersports – is the perfect rest stop between national parks.

7. Parc National de la Montagne d’Ambre

Much easier to explore than the other rainforest parks, and still bursting with life, the Amber Mountain and the little town of Joffreville are worth a day and a night.

8. Parc National d’Ankarana

If you don’t have time to take a boat trip to the Tsingy de Bemaraha, then this fascinating eroded plateau is the next best thing: lemurs and plenty of reptiles inhabit this rocky fortress. Take good footwear.

9. Nosy Be

Don’t be put off, don’t be intimidated: Nosy Be’s beaches are beautiful, the resort trappings pretty tame and the interior well worth exploring. Don’t forget a trip to the wonderful Lokobé reserve.

10. Parc National d’Ankaranfantsika

Deciduous dry forest meets lakes and erosion gulleys in this enjoyable and accessible park between Majunga and Antananarivo.

Madagascar Itinerary 2 - The south: flights, hikes and highways

Allow three weeks to cover the south by air and road. Be sure to leave time to get back to Antananarivo at the end of the trip. Renting a car and driver for the last few days of this itinerary is a good idea, rather than relying on Air Madagascar.

1. Antananarivo

Visit the capital’s historic sites and markets, walk through the old quarters and check out some of its many restaurants, bars and clubs.

2. Morondava

Get a flight to this west-coast port and hire a cab to see the unmissable Allée des Baobabs and do some night walks in the stunningly rich Kirindy Private Reserve.

3. Tuléar

Fly south to the capital of the Vezo fishing people, with its great seafood restaurants: then taxi north to Ifaty and Mangily for spiny forest and take a boat south to snorkel and relax on the beach at Anakao.

4. Fort Dauphin

Fly to Fort Dauphin: watch whales and the crashing surf, or spend a few days in natural history heaven at Sainte Luce, Berenty or on the Mandrare River.

5. Parc National d’Isalo

Back in Tuléar, rent a vehicle and driver to tour up the scenic RN7: hike in the magnificent canyons of Isalo and pause at Parc National Zombitse-Vohibasia en route.

6. Réserve Villageoise Anja

Stay at a charming bed and breakfast and make an early morning start on a hike through the home territories of delightful ring-tailed lemurs.

7. Fianarantsoa

Explore the Merina people’s cultural capital, with its fascinating hilltop old town.

8. Parc National de Ranomafana

See the rare golden bamboo lemur, along with countless other species, in this rugged and memorably scenic rainforest park.

9. Antsirabe

Spend a day in this nineteenth-century spa town, shopping and eating (and possibly trying the waters, if they ever reopen the baths), before driving back to Tana.

Tip from Rough Guides: Learn about the best ways to get to Madagascar and check out our Madagascar honeymoon itinerary.