All-inclusive holidays in Madagascar: what's possible

All-inclusive in the resort sense, a room rate including meals and specified drinks, exists in Madagascar mainly at the beach: a handful of hotels on Nosy Be and the odd lodge on a small private island nearby. Our touring prices work differently: accommodation with breakfast is included, and most other meals and drinks are paid separately. Our private trips include your own vehicle and driver-guide, hotels with breakfast, park fees and local guides, and you pay for most lunches, dinners and drinks as you go: roughly 25 to 45 euros a day each, tips included.

That's less of a drawback than it sounds. Local food is cheap, and paying as you go lets you eat rice and laoka at a roadside hotely at lunch and the lodge's three courses at night. If you want a resort's ease as well, do the wildlife first and end with a few all-inclusive days by the sea. Our 11-day Northern Madagascar trip, from €1,790 per adult, already ends on Nosy Be, with food included for three days there.

Where you'll find all-inclusive in Madagascar

Search for an all-inclusive holiday in Madagascar and most of what comes up is on or around Nosy Be, the island off the north-west coast. Elsewhere it's rare.

• Nosy Be. Some of the bigger beach hotels sell all-inclusive stays, often as package holidays with the flight. Rough Guides notes charter flights to Nosy Be from France and Italy, so expect plenty of European guests. Our Nosy Be guide covers the beaches and the boat days.
• Private islands. Some of the small islands off the north-west coast have upmarket lodges, and at least one sells all-inclusive. One example, not a recommendation: Constance Tsarabanjina, in the Mitsio islands, publishes an all-inclusive package covering its restaurant meals and specified drinks. Its own package document lists diving and return boat transfers among the payable services, so all-inclusive still needs reading carefully.
• Île Sainte-Marie. The east coast's island is mostly small bungalow hotels and lodges, and meal plans vary from one to the next, so check what's in the rate. More in our Sainte-Marie guide.
• Everywhere else. Away from the beach, the nearest thing is a remote lodge that serves you breakfast and dinner because there's nowhere else to eat.

Whatever you book, read what "all-inclusive" covers. Ask whether it includes bottled water outside meals, imported drinks, boat trips to the other islands and diving.

What our trip prices include, and what they don't

Every set trip is private and priced per adult, from two people. All eight include:

• Your own vehicle and English-speaking driver-guide. Private, never a coach.
• Accommodation with breakfast, in the places listed day by day.
• Park entrance fees and local guides, booked and paid directly.

Not included: lunches and dinners, drinks, tips, personal spending and flights. A few trips go further on food:

• Northern Madagascar, 11 days, from €1,790. Food and excursions on Nosy Be for three days, out of four nights on the island. Other meals, and the flight to Diego Suarez, aren't included.
• Northern Madagascar Adventure, 12 days, price on request. Food and excursions on the three Nosy Be excursion days, plus airport and boat transfers.
• Ultimate Madagascar, 20 days, from €3,070. The Tsiribihina river cruise, with camping and meals.
• West Adventure, 10 days, from €1,540. The camping equipment and river crew for four days on the Tsiribihina are arranged, but lunches and dinners are listed as not included, so ask us how meals on the river work.
• Eastern Madagascar, 10 days, from €1,620. The boats along the Pangalanes Canal and to Sainte-Marie are included. Lunches and dinners outside the included activities aren't.

Both river trips come with a caveat. At the time of writing the UK Foreign Office advises seeking alternative routes on the Tsiribihina after armed robberies on boats, and we can reshape either trip without the river (more in our safety guide).

The hotels on any trip can be upgraded or downgraded to match your budget, and the price follows. You get a written itinerary, the final price for your group and the hotels we've held before you pay a deposit.

How to get close to all-inclusive on a tour

• Ask about half board. Some hotels on a route may be able to add dinner to the room. Ask us which ones on your dates, and whether it's worth it.
• Pick a trip with meals in. Both north trips include food on Nosy Be for three days, and the Ultimate includes the meals on its river days.
• Spend the upgrade where you eat. Where dinner is at the lodge anyway, the lodge you choose decides the meal, so that's where a better hotel earns its keep. Our guide to where to stay goes stop by stop.
• Budget a fixed amount a day. Set aside a daily sum in ariary for meals and drinks, so you aren't doing sums at every table.

When to go for the beach part

Nosy Be's usual drier window is May to October. December to March is much wetter, and cyclone season normally runs from November to April, with storms most likely from January to March. Our cyclone guide explains how to plan around it.

One safety point for resort days. The UK Foreign Office warns of violent robberies and assaults on isolated beaches, even in daytime, and names Nosy Be among the places where this could happen. Ask for current local advice about beach walks, and use arranged transport after dark.

Resort, tour or both: which suits you

• A resort week and nothing else. Book an all-inclusive package to Nosy Be directly, or look at Mauritius, which does that kind of holiday more easily. You don't need a driver-guide for it.
• A wildlife trip. If lemurs or the Tsingy are why you're coming, take a touring trip and pay for meals as you go. Check the meal allowance alongside the room and transport costs.
• Both. For a honeymoon or a first long trip, this is the version we'd suggest: 10 or 11 days touring, then three or four nights at a resort.

Tell us your dates and how much of the trip you'd like with meals sorted, on the booking page or on WhatsApp. A real person in Antananarivo replies, usually within 24 hours, with a written itinerary and a firm price.

Photo: David Bruyndonckx on Unsplash.