Madagascar 7 Day Itinerary

Madagascar separated from the Indian subcontinent roughly 88 million years ago, which means its wildlife evolved in complete isolation long enough to produce species found nowhere else on earth. Around 90 percent of its plants and animals are endemic. That statistic explains why people travel a very long way to a country with unreliable infrastructure, unpredictable roads, and genuinely challenging logistics.

Visas and Entry

Most nationalities can obtain a visa on arrival at Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo. A 30-day visa costs approximately 80,000 Ariary (around EUR 35) and a 60-day visa 100,000 Ariary. An e-visa can be applied for at least 72 hours before arrival for similar fees. Carry cash for the visa fee; card machines at the visa desk are not reliably operational. Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates and you need proof of onward or return travel.

Airport Transfer

Ivato International Airport is 16 kilometres northwest of central Antananarivo. A legitimate taxi from the official desk inside arrivals costs roughly 60,000 to 80,000 Ariary (around USD 13-17) and takes 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Do not accept offers from unlicensed touts outside the terminal, who routinely ask three to four times the correct fare. Your hotel can usually arrange a transfer for only slightly more than taxi rates, and the piece of mind is worth it on arrival.

A Warning About Taxis and Parks

The most common scam affecting first-time visitors runs as follows: airport touts quote 200,000 to 350,000 Ariary for what should be an 80,000 Ariary ride. Agree a fare in writing before entering any vehicle. At national parks, always buy your entry ticket and hire your guide at the official park gate, not from freelancers who approach you on the road. Avoid unregistered roadside “lemur sanctuaries” that collect donations while keeping wild-caught animals in poor conditions; none of those entrance fees support conservation.

Day 1: Antananarivo (Tana)

Antananarivo sits on 12 hills at 1,280 metres altitude, which makes the air cool and the views expansive. After checking in, explore the Analakely market quarter but keep your phone out of sight; pickpocketing is common in the central city, particularly around the Analakely and Avenue de l’Independance area. The Royal Hill of Ambohimanga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 21 kilometres north of the city, is the more rewarding afternoon visit: a royal city and place of worship that was never surrendered to French colonial administrators, with original wooden structures and burial chambers still intact. Entry costs around 10,000 Ariary. Return to Tana for dinner and sleep early; the next day is a long drive.

Day 2: Antananarivo to Andasibe-Mantadia

A private car hire from Tana to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park takes approximately four hours on the RN2. A taxi-brousse (shared minibus) is cheaper but slower and less predictable; for a seven-day trip with limited flexibility, a private hire is the better call. Andasibe is home to the Indri, the largest living lemur, which communicates through calls that carry several kilometres through the forest and sound like nothing else in the animal kingdom. Book your park entry (45,000 Ariary per day for adults) and guide (25,000 Ariary for the Indri circuit) at the park gate. Entry fees are payable in Ariary only; there are no card facilities. The Indris are most active in the morning.

Day 3: Andasibe - Analamazaotra Special Reserve

Analamazaotra (also called Perinet Special Reserve) sits adjacent to the main Mantadia park and offers a shorter, flatter circuit. It is the more reliable place to see Indri, as the group territories are closer to the path network. An evening guided night walk reveals chameleons, nocturnal lemurs (the woolly lemur in particular), and an astonishing density of frogs; Madagascar has over 300 frog species, all endemic. The night walk costs approximately 20,000 Ariary and runs two hours. Stay in the lodges clustered around the park entrance rather than backtracking to Tana; Feon’ny Ala guesthouse is simple but clean and the garden abuts the reserve boundary, so Indri calls can wake you before dawn.

Day 4: Andasibe to Antsirabe

Antsirabe, roughly three hours south of Tana on the RN7, sits at 1,500 metres and was developed as a highland spa town by French Benedictine missionaries in the 19th century who recognised the therapeutic value of the local mineral springs. The thermal baths are still functioning and genuinely relaxing after days of driving. The city is also the centre of artisan gemstone and jewellery work; the workshops along Avenue Jean Ralaimongo sell polished stones and carved zebu-horn objects at fair prices with limited pressure to buy. Take an evening rickshaw tour of the surrounding residential streets; the rickshaw-pullers here are a local institution and taking one is both transport and a way to support a livelihood that pays more than farm work.

Day 5: Antsirabe to Morondava

This is the longest travel day of the itinerary: approximately seven hours by car or shared transport via Miandrivazo to reach Morondava on the west coast. The landscape shifts dramatically as you descend from the high plateau to the dry baobab savannah of the western lowlands. Arrive in Morondava in time to reach the Avenue of the Baobabs 40 minutes north of town before sunset. The Adansonia grandidieri baobabs here are between 800 and 1,200 years old and can reach 30 metres in height with a circumference exceeding 10 metres; they were declared a Protected Natural Monument in 2007. Come for sunset when the light turns the trunks copper. There is no entrance fee for the avenue itself, though a small community fee is sometimes collected. Skip the day visit and go only at sunrise or sunset; the mid-afternoon crowd and harsh light are both punishing.

Day 6: Morondava and Kirindy Forest

Kirindy Private Reserve, 60 kilometres north of Morondava, is one of the best places in Madagascar to see the Fossa, the island’s apex predator and its largest carnivore, a cat-like animal more closely related to the mongoose. The Fossa is active at night and at dawn, so an overnight stay at the Kirindy camp (basic but functional) is worth considering. During the day the reserve holds seven species of lemur including the Verreaux’s sifaka and the red-fronted brown lemur. Entry costs approximately 20,000 Ariary; guide fees are extra. If an overnight at Kirindy is not practical, spend the afternoon in Morondava exploring the fishing harbour and eating fresh seafood at one of the small restaurants along the beachfront.

Day 7: Morondava to Antananarivo

The return to Tana from Morondava by road takes around nine hours. Air Madagascar operates flights on this route, which takes 90 minutes; if your budget allows, this is the obvious choice and frees up a day. Book domestic flights well in advance during the dry season (May to October) when seats sell out. If flying, use the morning to revisit the Baobab avenue at sunrise before heading to the airport. Carry cash for all domestic purchases on this route; ATMs exist in Morondava but frequently run empty. Bring 200,000 to 300,000 Ariary in small notes as a buffer for the final leg.

Best Time to Visit

May through October is the dry season and by far the best time for all the destinations in this itinerary. The Tsingy de Bemaraha park, one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the country (razor-edged limestone karst formations), is only accessible in the dry season and takes an additional two to three days from Morondava. January to March brings cyclone-season rainfall that closes park trails and turns many roads into impassable mud, particularly in the west. If you visit in the wet season, concentrate on Andasibe and the eastern rain forest, which remains accessible year-round.