Ultimate Madagascar Adventure — Self-Launched

Land at Ivato Airport, pay the 30-day tourist visa on arrival (~£35/120,000 Ar, cash preferred) and change money in the terminal — ATMs outside the capital are unreliable. Taxi into the Analakely/Haute-Ville area (~£8-10). Sort out an AirTel or Orange SIM with data (£5-8) and pick up a couple of days' worth of cash. Evening wander around Lac Anosy and dinner at a Malagasy spot (rice, romazava stew, ~£5).

🚌Airport taxi ~£8-10

🛏Budget guesthouse in Antananarivo (£15-20)

• →Visa on arrival
• →SIM card and money exchange
• →Lac Anosy evening walk

Long but scenic day on RN34 through the highlands — terraced rice paddies, brick-making villages and roadside stalls selling bananas and grilled maize. Shared taxi-brousse covers it in roughly 8-10 hours with a lunch stop (~£8-10; book the morning departure the day before via your guesthouse or at the Ampasapito station). Miandrivazo is a hot, sleepy river town — get an early night.

🚌Taxi-brousse Tana–Miandrivazo ~£9

🛏Simple hotel in Miandrivazo (£12-15)

• →Highlands scenic drive

Continue west by taxi-brousse or a hired car to Kirindy (~5-6 hrs, £12-15 shared; the last stretch on the dirt road is bumpy). Kirindy is the best spot on the island to see the fossa, the giant jumping rat and mouse lemurs. Book a licensed Kirindy reserve guide for the evening night walk (~£10-12 pp, torch and headlamp essential) — the highlight of the whole western circuit.

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£13

🛏Kirindy Forest camp/hut (£18-22, basic, cold shower)

• →Guided night walk in Kirindy Reserve
• →Fossa and nocturnal lemur spotting

A slow, sandy 4-5 hour drive north to Bekopaka, crossing the Tsiribihina River on a vehicle ferry/barge (a few pounds per person). The gateway village for Tsingy de Bemaraha. Arrange a 4x4 and park guide for the next two days at the village office or through your lodge — expect around £40-50 per day for the vehicle to be split between travellers you can team up with at the lodge.

🚌Shared car/dirt road drive plus river barge ~£30

🛏Bungalow in Bekopaka (£15-20)

• →Tsiribihina river crossing
• →Bekopaka village evening

Morning pirogue trip up the Manambolo River through a narrow cliff-lined gorge (~£15-20 pp, book the local pirogue association in the village) — excellent birding and a stop to see a burial cave. Afternoon walking the Little Tsingy, a manageable ladders-and-steps circuit through the pinnacles with a local guide (park guide fee ~£10-15). Sun protection and sturdy shoes essential.

🚌4x4 to trailhead (included in day hire)

🛏Bungalow in Bekopaka (£15-20)

• →Manambolo River pirogue excursion
• →Little Tsingy walk

The big one: a full day in the UNESCO-listed Great Tsingy, scrambling over and between razor limestone pinnacles, crossing hanging bridges above drop-offs and finishing with panoramic views across the massif. Genuinely demanding and not for anyone with vertigo — bring grippy shoes, gloves, 3+ litres of water and nerves. Pay the national park entry (£12-15) plus guide and 4x4 share (~£25-30 total).

🚌4x4 day hire, shared cost

🛏Bungalow in Bekopaka (£15-20)

• →Great Tsingy full-day trek
• →Hanging bridge crossings and canyon viewpoints

Full day driving south, then time the arrival for the last hour of light at Baobab Alley (Allée des Baobabs) — roughly 30-45 minutes north of Morondava. Pay the small community entrance fee (£2-3) and stay for sunset with an ice-cold THB beer. Arrange a cheap shared taxi or tuk-tuk back into town after dark. Cash up in Morondava the following morning where possible, but note ATMs here are hit-and-miss — keep Ariary brought from Tana.

🚌Shared car/4x4 back to Morondava ~£20, tuk-tuk to baobabs ~£8 return

🛏Beach hotel in Morondava (£15-20)

• →Sunset at Baobab Alley

Legs-up day. Hang on the wide, quiet beach, wander the market (vanilla, raffia baskets, dried fish), or take a dugout canoe through the mangrove channels north of town (~£12 pp) and a short zebu-cart ride. Optional visit to the 'Lovers' Baobabs' nearby. Great cheap seafood grills on the beach road for dinner (£6-8).

🚌Walking, pirogue ~£12

🛏Beach hotel in Morondava (£15-20)

• →Beach day
• →Local market
• →Mangrove dugout canoe trip

Free morning, then the domestic hop back to Tana with Tsaradia/Madagascar Airlines (~£90-140 one way; schedules are released only a few months ahead and vary — book early and be flexible). Afternoon in the capital: Queen's Palace (Rova) on the hilltop (£3), the Analakely market and the Prime Minister's Palace (£4). If you're a birder, the Tsarasaotra bird park near town is lovely at dusk (£4).

🚌Domestic flight Morondava–Tana ~£110, airport taxi

🛏Budget guesthouse in Antananarivo (£15-20)

• →Rova of Antananarivo
• →Analakely market
• →Tsarasaotra bird park

Take a taxi-brousse or shared minibus east on RN2 to Andasibe (~3-4 hrs, £6-8), stopping at the Peyreiras reptile farm or the Madagascar Exotic butterfly park en route. In the afternoon walk into the Indri Special Reserve with a local guide and listen for the eerie, wailing call of the indri — the largest living lemur — plus brown lemurs and a bewildering range of frogs and chameleons. Park entry ~£10, guide ~£10.

🚌Taxi-brousse Tana–Andasibe ~£7

🛏Guesthouse near Andasibe (£15-20)

• →Indri Special Reserve guided walk
• →Nocturnal lemur evening walk

Full day in Andasibe-Mantadia: a morning guided hike in the Péringuey section (£15 guide plus ~£12 park fee) for more indri, diademed sifaka and a wonderfully mossy primary forest. Optional add-ons: the Vondron'olona Ifotony community reserve (£6) and a late-afternoon visit to the Mitsinjo reserve's nocturnal lemurs. Book guides at the park entrance office the day before.

🚌Local walking and tuk-tuk

🛏Guesthouse near Andasibe (£15-20)

• →Andasibe-Mantadia forest hike
• →Community reserve visit
• →Night walk

Long transfer day back through Tana and south on RN7 to Antsirabe (~8-9 hrs total; taxi-brousse £9-12, or break it by overnighting in Tana). Antsirabe is the cool, colonial-era highland town of pousse-pousse rickshaws, thermal baths and gem workshops — a pleasant base for the night and a good place to stock up on supplies.

🚌Taxi-brousse Andasibe–Antsirabe ~£10

🛏Guesthouse in Antsirabe (£12-18)

• →Colonial architecture walk
• →Pousse-pousse ride

Take a taxi-brousse south towards Ambositra/Fianarantsoa and head into the highlands to a village homestay (book independently through community-tourism projects or a local guide in Ambositra, ~£20-25 including home-cooked meals; Ambositra itself is the woodcarving town worth an hour). Nights are cold up here — layer up. Traditional rice-and-zebu dinner with your host family and, if you're lucky, a visiting ombiasy (traditional healer/ghost-talker) to explain local customs.

🚌Taxi-brousse and local drop-off ~£10

🛏Community guesthouse, multi-share (£12)

• →Village homestay and traditional dinner
• →Traditional healer visit
• →Rice-paddy walk

Morning in the village, then continue to Ambositra, Zafimaniry woodcarving country. Visit the artisan workshops: rice-paper/antaimoro paper factories and the silk-weaving project near Ambalavao-area villages (£2 each) — the hand-made paper with pressed flowers makes a great light souvenir. Pick up picnic supplies for the road.

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£8

🛏Guesthouse in Ambositra (£12-18)

• →Paper factory visit
• →Artisan woodcarving workshops
• →Silk weaving visit

Continue south on RN7 to Fianarantsoa (betsileo wine country — a quick tasting stop if the bus allows), then the winding road east into the rainforest to Ranomafana (~6-7 hrs total, £10-12). Afternoon: soak in the town's thermal pools (£3) and arrange a guide for the morning forest walk at the park office.

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£11

🛏Guesthouse in Ranomafana village (£15-18)

• →Thermal pools
• →Village walk

Early morning guided forest walk in Ranomafana searching for the golden bamboo lemur, Milne-Edwards' sifaka and up to twelve other lemur species in dense mossy montane rainforest (~£15 guide + £10 park fee; leeches in the wet season, so wear long socks). Afterwards head south to Ambalavao and do the late-afternoon walk in Anja Community Reserve — some of the most reliable, photogenic ring-tailed lemur troops anywhere, with a guide from the village co-op (£6-8).

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£8

🛏Guesthouse in Ambalavao (£12-16)

• →Ranomafana rainforest walk
• →Anja Community Reserve ring-tailed lemurs
• →Rice paddies and granite boulder scenery

Drive on through the Horombe plateau (wild, empty, spectacular) to Ranohira at the edge of Isalo (~3-4 hrs, £8-10). Drop your bag and spend the afternoon in Isalo: the Namaza circuit with a canyon walk, a cool natural swimming pool and the famous 'Piscine Naturelle'. Park entry ~£12 plus guide ~£12. Join or build a small group locally to share guide costs.

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£9

🛏Guesthouse in Ranohira (£12-18)

• →Isalo National Park canyon and natural pool walk

Morning hike to the Isalo 'Fenêtre' (Window) for sunrise-ish light over the sandstone ridges, then a relaxed afternoon. If you'd like to give something back, Ranohira hosts community tree-planting and reforestation projects — ask at your guesthouse about joining a half-day planting session (often free or a small donation). Otherwise, visit the village and watch zebu herders bring animals in.

🚌Walking / local tuk-tuk ~£4

🛏Guesthouse in Ranohira (£12-18)

• →Isalo Window viewpoint hike
• →Community tree-planting project
• →Village walk

Long transfer south through Ilakaka's sapphire-mining frontier country and on to Toliara (Tulear), then up the coast to Ifaty on the reef (~7-8 hrs, £12-15 taxi-brousse plus a short taxi). Ifaty is a laid-back fishing village on a wide lagoon — perfect for two days of swimming, seafood and doing very little after the interior.

🚌Taxi-brousse ~£14

🛏Beach bungalow in Ifaty (£18-25)

• →Ilakaka roadside stop
• →Beach sunset

Free day: snorkel or dive the Toliara barrier reef from the village (~£20-30 for a guided boat trip with gear), or walk the Reniala Spiny Forest Reserve — an otherworldly octopus-tree and baobab landscape with an excellent local guide (~£10). A dugout canoe trip with a fisherman is £8-10. Dinner of grilled fish and coconut rice on the sand for £6-8.

🚌Walking, local pirogue/quad hire

🛏Beach bungalow in Ifaty (£18-25)

• →Reniala Spiny Forest Reserve
• →Snorkelling the lagoon reef
• →Dugout canoe trip

Slow morning, then transfer to Toliara airport and fly back to the capital with Tsaradia/Madagascar Airlines (~£100-150 one way; no flight every day, so build in flexibility and a spare day if possible). Alternatively, the road back is two long days — most travellers fly. Evening in Tana for a final meal of zebu steak or seafood at a modest restaurant (£8-10).

🚌Local taxi to airport ~£10, domestic flight ~£125

🛏Budget guesthouse in Antananarivo (£15-20)

• →Last-minute souvenir shopping
• →Farewell dinner

Airport transfer and outbound flight. If you have time, the Analakely market and the handicraft shops around Isoraka are the best places for vanilla, raffia and woodcarvings at reasonable prices before the taxi to Ivato.

🚌Airport taxi ~£8-10

🛏—

• →Market and souvenir shopping