Tourist visa and entry requirements Madagascar
We advise buying your tourist visa on arrival. There are some e-visa scam websites, and you might still have to pay an entry fee even though you already paid online. You can pay for your visa on arrival in Ariary, USD or Euro. Currently, the costs for a Madagascar tourist are 80.000 Ariary (€35) for 30 days, and 100.000 Ariary (€40) for 60 days.
A Yellow Fever vaccination card is required for persons travelling to Madagascar from the age of 1 year and above when travelling from a country with a risk of Yellow Fever transmission. This does not apply to travellers who have been in transit. Find the list of countries with a risk of virus transmission here.
International flights from Europe to Madagascar
An increasing number of airlines have flights to Madagascar. Skyscanner and Google Flights are good websites to look for deals and book tickets. Herewith is an overview of the major routes:
- Air Madagascar direct from Paris. You get a discount on onward domestic flights.
- Air France, direct from Paris
- KLM | Kenyan Airways via Nairobi
- Ethiopian Airways, via Addis Ababa
- Turkish Airlines, via Istanbul
- Air Mauritius, via Mauritius
- Air Seychelles via Qatar and Seychelles
- South African Airways via Jo'burg
International flights to Nosy Be
South Africa Airways and Ethiopian operate direct flights to Nosy Be. There are also direct charter flights to Nosy Be from Italy and Poland. You can start your car rental from Ankify (the ferry point where the ferry coming from Nosy Be docks) for an additional fee, or free of charge from Diego Suarez.
Domestic flights in Madagascar
There are domestic flights from Ivato (Antananarivo) to Nosy Be, Tulear, Diego Suarez and plenty of other destinations in Madagascar.
The only domestic airline in Madagascar is Madagascar Airlines. For some time around June/July '24, flights had to be booked via an IATA travel agency. Nowadays, you can book your own flights again via their website.
Delays and cancellations can happen. Factor in a spare day in Ivato, so you don't run the risk of missing your international flight in case you end your trip with a domestic flight back to the capital.
How to travel to Nosy Be overland?
If you are flying in and out of Nosy Be Airport and planning a roundtrip through Northern Madagascar from Nosy Be, you can pick up your Roadtrip Africa car from Ankify.
Ferries to mainland Ankify depart from Hell Ville harbour in Nosy Be and from little Nosy Komba island. At Nosy Be port, you will be greeted by pushy ticket salesmen, whose sole purpose is to hassle and inflate the price for carrying passports to the ticket counter. It is advisable to ignore these middlemen and buy the tickets yourself directly from the ticket counter.
Ferries run multiple times a day and leave when full. You can also charter a smaller passenger boat. The lodge you are staying at in Nosy Koma or Nosy Be should be able to assist in case you like to book a faster passenger boat.
