Start: Antananarivo
Destination: Antsirabe
Drive: 180 km | 4.5 hours

On the road to Andasibe, a nice colonial town. Expect a windy asphalt road passing through rice paddies and small highland villages. You can have a good lunch stop at Coin de Foie Grass in Behenjy, or try an authentic paella (we're not kidding) at El Torro in Ambutulampy. 

Take a pousse pousse (the Malagasy version of the Asian rickshaw) tour to the craft workshops which are otherwise hard to find on your own. 

Roadtrip Madagascar's favourite places in Antsirabe: 

Budget: Camping allowed at Green Park and Madalief (out of town) 

Mid-range: Trianon (€26/night), Madalief (€26/night)

Deluxe: Couleur Café (€37/night)

Restaurants: Chez Jenny (pizza, lively), Trianon (classic French), Vatolahy (classic French) 

Start: Antsirabe
Destination: Miandrivazo
Drive: 220 km | 5 hours 

Leave the RN7 behind and switch to the RN34. Also an asphalt road, but with more potholes. You will probably have the road to yourself. Miandrivazo is a small, sleepy inland town, where it can get very hot.

Accommodation in Miandrivazo 

Mid-range: Princess Tsiribihina, which has a swimming pool (€ 30/night)

Start: Miandrivazo
Destination: Kirindy Reserve
Drive: 6.5 hours 

Drive to Kirindy Reserve via Morondava and the Avenue de Baobabs. It's around 4.5 hours on the RN24, an asphalt road in reasonable state, to the seaside resort of Morondava. There are many nice places to eat - recommended places to have lunch are Cafe Baobab and La Capannina.

Continue for 2 hours / 65 km on a rough dirt track to Kirindy. En route, you will pass the Avenue de Baobabs and the Baobabs Amoureux. 

Places to stay in Kirindy: 

Budget: Bungalows in the Reserve - cold water and pretty basic, but the only option if you want to do a night walk in the park (recommended). 

Mid-range: Camp Amoureux, 20 minutes south of Kirindy. 13 tents in the forest with en suite bathrooms. Guided night walks are organised. 

Enjoy: Kirindy Reserve

Kirindy Reserve (not to be mistaken for Kirindy-Mitea National Park, close to Belo sur Mer) is a pretty special reserve. It's the only place in Madagascar where you can see giant jumping rats dig their burrows in the soft, red soil. The jumping rat is Madagascar's largest rodent, and looks like a strange kangaroo-rabbit crossbreed with a rat's tail. Another local inhabitant is the mouse lemur, the world's smallest primate. Another special treat in Kirindy is the fossa (see picture), Madagascar's largest carnivore. You will be unlucky not to spot them around the campsite, searching for leftovers. Day visitors will see far less than those able to observe wildlife at dawn or dusk. A night time stroll is highly recommended. Local tourist guides are constantly updated by the international research center.

Start: Kirindy Reserve
Destination: Tsingy de Bemaraha
Drive: 8 hours 

On the road to Bemaraha. It's 2 hours to the ferry point and 45 min by ferry to the village of Belo-sur-Tsiribihina. Make sure to have lunch at Mad Zebu - some travellers say this is the best meal in the country. The Malagasy chef used to work at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in France and now runs a restaurant in the middle of nowhere - pretty surreal!

Total travel time from Kirindy to Bemaraha is around 6-8 hours on a rough dirt road. 

Acccommodation in Tsingy de Bemaraha: 

Budget: camping near the park office and the Grand Tsingy trail - head 17 km(1 hour) further ahead

Mid-range: Olympe de Bemahara

Deluxe: Soleil des Tsingy Lodge

Enjoy: Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park

There is nothing else on earth like the limestone pinnacles of the Tsingy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Given the time and effort needed to get to Bemaraha, we recommend that you spend two full days at the minimum to enjoy the various circuits that have been put in place with phenomenal expertise, consisting of Via Ferratas (fixed cable routes), rope bridges and ladders.  

Enjoy: Bemaraha

There are more than a dozen circuits, ranging from an hour to a full day hike. For the most dramatic views, you need to do the difficult Ankeligoa circuit in the Petit Tsingy and the Andamozavaky in the Grand Tsingy. For both, you need to be fairly fit and have no fear of heights. A piroque trip up the Manambolo River provides a nice relief form the heat in the Tsingy. 

Start: Tsingy the Bemaraha
Destination: Morondava
Drive: 10 hours 

Return to Morondava; a full day of off-road driving (8-10 hours). Morondova is a lively seaside resort with plenty of small restaurants and bars.  

Accommodation in Morondava:

Budget: Trecigogne (€22/night)

Mid-range: Chez Maggy, which has a swimming pool  (€38/night)

Deluxe: Pallisandre, which also has a swimming pool  (€135/night)

Our favourite restaurants: La Capannina and Baobab Café

Recharge at Morondava before making your way back to Antananarivo by car (2 full days of driving via Miandrivazo and Antsirabe). 

Alternatively, head down south to Belo sur Mer (4 hours off-road driving on sandy tracks) to enjoy the most beautiful stretch of beach along the west coast of Madagascar, before dropping off your vehicle at Morondava and catching a flight back to Tana.