Eight days across three very different Madagascars — misty rainforest where the island’s largest living lemur sings at dawn, the sun-baked avenue of 800-year-old baobabs that made this island famous, and a turquoise-fringed island in the northwest for a slower finish. Real lodges, a real domestic airline, and 2026 prices for every stop.
Day 1Antananarivo — A Highland Welcome
A short first day in the hillside capital, from the Merina kings’ old royal compound to the market stalls of Analakely.
🛬 Arrival Transfer: Ivato Airport to Antananarivo
~45 minutes · included with the MTT airport transfer package
A driver-guide from Madagascar Travel and Tours (MTT) meets you at Ivato International Airport (TNR) for the short drive into the capital, with an orientation briefing on the road in.
Madagascar Travel and Tours (MTT) · madagascartravelandtours.com
🏛️ Rova of Antananarivo & Analakely Market
~2.5 hours · guided walking tour ~$35 USD / person
The hilltop royal palace compound of the Merina kings, rebuilt after a 1995 fire, with sweeping views over the capital’s red-clay rooftops, followed by a wander through Analakely’s sprawling covered market for vanilla, spices, and woven raffia.
🛎️ Check-In: Hotel Carlton Madagascar
From $135 USD / night, for 2 people
A long-running high-rise hotel above Lake Anosy in the city center, with a rooftop pool and views over the capital — a comfortable, central base for one night before heading into the rainforest.
Hotel Carlton Madagascar · www.carlton-madagascar.com
🍽️ Dinner: La Varangue
~1.5 hours · $25–$40 USD / person
A long-standing gastronomic restaurant near Lake Anosy pairing French technique with Malagasy ingredients — foie gras and zebu alongside vanilla and pink peppercorn from the island’s own farms.
La Varangue · www.hotel-restaurant-lavarangue-tananarive.com
Day 2Into the Rainforest — Andasibe’s Singing Lemurs
East into the highlands rainforest for the loudest, closest lemur encounter on the island — the indri’s wailing dawn song carries for over a mile.
🚐 Private Drive: Antananarivo to Andasibe
~3.5 hours, 90 miles · with an MTT driver-guide
RN2 climbs east out of the highlands through terraced rice paddies and eucalyptus hills before dropping into the humid rainforest belt around Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.
🛎️ Check-In: Vakona Forest Lodge
From $150 USD / night, for 2 people
Wooden bungalows scattered through the forest on the edge of the Vakona private reserve, a short drive from the Analamazaotra entrance — the go-to base for Andasibe’s lemur walks.
Vakona Forest Lodge · www.vakonahotel.com
🐾 Guided Indri Walk with VOI Mitsinjo
~2.5 hours · park entrance ~$15 USD + local guide ~$20 USD / person
A community-run guide association tracks family groups of indri — the largest living lemur — through the Analamazaotra Special Reserve by following their wailing call, audible up to 2 miles away.
VOI Mitsinjo · www.mitsinjo.org
🔦 Nocturnal Night Walk
~1.5 hours, after dinner · ~$15 USD / person
A headlamp walk along the reserve’s forest edge for mouse lemurs, chameleons, and leaf-tailed geckos that only come out after dark.
Day 3Mantadia National Park & the Drive Back to Tana
A full morning deeper into primary rainforest before the drive back to the capital ahead of tomorrow’s flight west.
🌿 Mantadia National Park Rainforest Hike
~4 hours · guided hike ~$30 USD / person + park entrance
Steeper and less visited than neighboring Analamazaotra, Mantadia’s primary rainforest is home to diademed sifakas, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, and Madagascar’s largest chameleon species.
🦎 Lemur Island (Vakona Private Reserve)
~1 hour · included with lodge stay, ~$15 USD / person otherwise
A cluster of small islands on the lodge’s private lake, home to rescued and rehabilitated lemurs — ring-tailed and brown lemurs will often climb straight onto an outstretched arm.
🚐 Private Drive: Andasibe to Antananarivo
~3.5 hours, 90 miles
The same route back west, timed to reach the capital before evening traffic builds near the city center.
🛎️ Check-In: Hôtel & Spa Palissandre
From $97 USD / night, for 2 people
A quiet, garden-set hotel a short drive from Ivato Airport — a convenient overnight before an early domestic flight west to Morondava.
Hôtel & Spa Palissandre · leshotelspalissandre.com
Day 4Fly West — Sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs
A short domestic flight trades highland rainforest for the dry, red-earth west coast and Madagascar’s most photographed stretch of road.
✈️ Domestic Flight: Antananarivo to Morondava
~1 hour · from $95 USD / person one-way (Tsaradia)
Madagascar’s domestic carrier, Tsaradia, flies the hub route from Ivato to Morondava’s small coastal airport most days of the week — book the early flight to leave a full afternoon for the baobabs.
Tsaradia (Madagascar Airlines) · madagascarairlines.com
🛎️ Check-In: Palissandre Côte Ouest Resort & Spa
From $180 USD / night, for 2 people
A beachfront resort just outside Morondava with a pool overlooking the Mozambique Channel, and the closest comfortable base to the Avenue of the Baobabs.
Palissandre Côte Ouest Resort & Spa · leshotelspalissandre.com
📸 Sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs
~2 hours · free to visit; local guide ~$10 USD / person
A dirt road lined with roughly 25 Grandidier’s baobabs, some more than 800 years old, that turns gold and silhouette-dark as the sun drops behind them — arrive at least an hour before sunset to claim a spot.
Day 5Kirindy Private Reserve — Fossas by Day, Fossas by Night
A full day in the dry deciduous forest south of Morondava, hunting for Madagascar’s strangest predator and one more baobab curiosity on the way back.
🐆 Kirindy Private Reserve Day Walk
~4 hours · guided walk ~$45 USD / person incl. entrance
A patch of protected dry forest that’s the best place on the island to spot the fossa, Madagascar’s cat-like top predator, along with giant jumping rats and several of the world’s smallest primates.
Kirindy Private Reserve · www.kirindy-reserve.mg
🌳 Baobabs Amoureux (“Lovers’ Baobabs”)
~30 minutes · ~$5 USD / person
A pair of baobabs whose trunks have twisted around each other over centuries of growth, just off the road between Kirindy and Morondava — a quick, easy stop on the drive back.
🔦 Kirindy Night Walk: Fossa & Mouse Lemurs
~2 hours, after dinner · ~$25 USD / person
The reserve’s guides lead a second walk after dark, when fossas are most active and the forest fills with the eye-shine of several nocturnal mouse and sportive lemur species.
Day 6Fly North — Beach Check-In on Nosy Be
A connecting domestic flight trades the dry west coast for the turquoise water of Madagascar’s best-known island getaway.
✈️ Domestic Flight: Morondava to Nosy Be (via Antananarivo)
~3.5 hours total with a connection · from $180 USD / person one-way (Tsaradia)
Tsaradia’s hub-and-spoke network routes this leg back through Antananarivo — book the earliest connection to still have a beach afternoon on arrival at Fascene Airport.
Tsaradia (Madagascar Airlines) · madagascarairlines.com
🛎️ Check-In: Royal Beach Hotel & Spa
From $190 USD / night, for 2 people
A beachfront resort on Madirokely Beach with direct water access, a spa, and a pool terrace looking out toward Nosy Komba — the base for the trip’s last two days.
Royal Beach Hotel & Spa · royalbeach.mg
🍽️ Dinner: Le Cacao Beach by Loulou
~2 hours · $25–$45 USD / person
A long-running beachfront seafood restaurant on Nosy Be, known for the day’s catch grilled to order and tables that spill right onto the sand.
Le Cacao Beach by Loulou
Day 7Tanikely Marine Reserve & Lokobe Rainforest
A full day split between snorkeling a protected reef and a walk through the island’s last patch of primary rainforest.
🤿 Boat Trip: Nosy Tanikely Marine Reserve
~4 hours · guided snorkeling day trip ~$60 USD / person
A small protected island 45 minutes offshore with some of the clearest water and healthiest coral in the archipelago, plus green sea turtles that surface reliably close to shore.
🌴 Lokobe Nature Reserve — Black Lemurs & Village Lunch
~3 hours · guided walk with dugout canoe transfer ~$55 USD / person
A dugout-canoe crossing to Nosy Be’s last stand of primary rainforest, home to black lemurs and panther chameleons, followed by a home-cooked Malagasy lunch in the village at the reserve’s edge.
⛵ Sunset Dhow Cruise
~2 hours · ~$40 USD / person incl. drinks
A traditional wooden dhow sails out from Ambatoloaka for sundowners as the sky over the Mozambique Channel turns orange behind Nosy Komba.
Day 8Free Morning & Departure
One last unhurried morning on the beach before the transfer to the airport for the flight home.
🏖️ Free Morning: Beach & Spa
Flexible · spa treatments from $30 USD
A last morning to swim, read on the sand, or book a massage at the resort spa before the standard early-afternoon checkout.
🚐 Private Transfer: Hotel to Fascene Airport (NOS)
~20 minutes · included with the MTT package
A short drive back to Fascene Airport for the flight out — Tsaradia and Madagascar Airlines both route through Antananarivo for onward international connections.
Madagascar Travel and Tours (MTT) · madagascartravelandtours.com
Download your itinerary here
