Madagascar itineraries for 1, 2 or 3 weeks

Give Madagascar two weeks if you can. A week covers one region, or Andasibe's rainforest plus the baobabs and Tsingy of the west if you fly between them. Ten days does one region properly, two weeks one long route such as the RN7 south, and three weeks lets you join two regions with a flight in between.

Our eight private trips, each with your own vehicle and driver-guide, line up like this:

• Up to a week. Two days at Andasibe (from €320 per adult) and five days in the west (from €810), on their own or joined by a flight.
• Ten days. The east, from Andasibe to Sainte Marie (from €1,620), or the west by river (from €1,540).
• Two weeks. The RN7 south (from €1,730) or the north from Diego Suarez (from €1,790), both 11 days, or the north from Antananarivo in 12 days (price on request).
• Three weeks. The Ultimate Madagascar Adventure, 20 days through the west and the south (from €3,070), or two of the trips above back to back.

Why Madagascar takes longer than the map suggests

What breaks most plans is the road. Map apps expect faster roads than Madagascar has. The island is nearly 1,600 km long, and 200 km of dirt can take a whole day. These are the legs that shape most itineraries:

• Antananarivo to Andasibe. 140 km, usually three to four hours. It's the easiest rainforest to reach from the capital.
• Down the RN7. Antananarivo to Antsirabe takes 4 to 5 hours, Antsirabe to Ranomafana 5 to 7, Ranomafana to Ambalavao 2 to 3, Ambalavao to Isalo 4 to 6, then about five more to Tulear. The road is roughly 950 km, paved but potholed in places, and with the detour to Ranomafana that's 20 hours or more at the wheel. With time in the parks on the way, the trip south takes a week or more.
• Morondava to the Tsingy de Bemaraha. About 200 km, nearly all dirt, with two river ferries. Count on 8 to 10 hours in a 4x4.
• Antananarivo to Morondava. Two long days by road, or about an hour by air.
• Antananarivo to Diego Suarez. More than a day and a night by road, or about two hours by air. Both our northern trips fly there.

So the rule of thumb is one region for every ten days or so, explored by road, with flights between regions. If you haven't picked a region yet, our guide to the best places to visit in Madagascar goes through each one.

Long drives also have to fit into daylight: the UK Foreign Office advises against driving at night, because vehicles often have no lights and few roads are lit. At the time of writing, the same advice says to travel with a recognised tour operator in the west between Besalampy and Morombe, a stretch that takes in Morondava, the Tsingy road and the coast south of the town, because of violent highway robbery, particularly at night. It says the same for the south between Ihosy, Tulear and Fort Dauphin. Our safety guide has the detail.

10 days in Madagascar: one region, done properly

Two of our trips run exactly ten days, and each keeps to one region:

• The east, at the gentlest pace. Eastern Madagascar gives Andasibe two nights, then two at Ankanin'ny Nofy on the Pangalanes, where the night walk looks for the aye-aye. A boat takes you up the canal to Toamasina, and the last three nights are on Sainte Marie, where humpbacks gather from July to September (the first from June).
• The west, by river. The West Adventure turns the long road west into part of the trip: two days' drive through the highlands to Miandrivazo, four days drifting down the Tsiribihina and camping on the bank, then the Grand Tsingy and Kirindy, with the baobabs at sunset and again at sunrise to finish. It runs from May to November. At the time of writing, the UK Foreign Office says armed criminals have boarded boats on the Tsiribihina and robbed passengers, and it advises seeking alternative routes. We can reshape the trip without the river, for example by flying to Morondava and joining the western route there, as the 5-day West trip does, and our safety guide has the current advice.

3 weeks in Madagascar: two regions, or nearly everything

The Ultimate Madagascar Adventure (20 days) is the long way round: Antsirabe, three days on the Tsiribihina, the Grand Tsingy, Kirindy and the baobabs, then remote coastal tracks south through Belo sur Mer, Morombe and Ambatomilo to Ifaty, and back up the RN7 through Isalo, Anja and Ranomafana. Belo sur Mer can be cut off by road for up to five months in the rains, so the trip runs from May to November.

The other way is two trips back to back, with a night in Antananarivo between them. The two halves that differ most are the RN7 and the north: the Classic South, then a flight up to Diego Suarez for the 11-day north trip. That comes to just over three weeks, or exactly three if we trim a day. The east and the west join just as easily, and the Ultimate itself can be shortened or split in two.

Combinations that waste days on the road

• Andasibe as a day trip. Six to eight hours in the car for a few hours in the forest, and no night walk. Stay one night and you're on the trail early, when the indri sing most.
• Driving to Morondava and back. Two long days each way. Fly, unless the Tsiribihina is the point.
• The RN7 both ways. Drive down and fly back from Tulear.
• A quick look at the Tsingy. Bekopaka is a full day from Morondava each way, so the Tsingy needs four days from Morondava at the very least, and five with Kirindy and a baobab sunset.
• Three regions in two weeks. North, south and west means three or four domestic flights, most of them through Antananarivo, and a flight day rarely leaves room for much else.
• The west in the rains. The Tsingy de Bemaraha closes in the rains and reopens around April or May, and in the wet months floods cut off parts of the west and north.
• A domestic flight on your last day. Schedules change often, so sleep in Antananarivo before the flight home.

Check what day 1 means before you book flights

Our trips start and end in different ways, and that changes which flights you need. The eastern trip and the 12-day north trip begin with an arrival day in Antananarivo. The Classic South and the Ultimate leave the capital on the morning of day 1, so land the day before. The 5-day west trip starts at Morondava airport, and the 11-day north trip with a morning flight to Diego Suarez. At the other end, the Classic South ends with the flight from Tulear on day 11, and the 5-day trip finishes after sunset in Morondava, so you fly out the next day. Send your flight times with your request and we'll fit the first and last days around them.

Photos: iAko Randrianarivelo, Marcelo Delgado and Alessandro Zanini on Unsplash.