A Long Weekend in Madagascar: Offbeat Plan
Three days gives Andasibe a full overnight instead of a rushed there-and-back, the dawn chorus and a night walk on top of the Indri Trail circuit. It still doesn’t reach Antsirabe or the RN7 proper, that starts at four days . Check your government’s current travel advisory first, the transitional government sworn in October 2025 is still finding its footing.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival in Tana, easing into the ariary and the jet lag |
| 2 | The paved RN2 to Andasibe, and the indri’s whale-like call |
| 3 | A dawn indri chorus, thumbnail chameleons, and the drive back to Tana |
Book these before you go
- Check Andasibe lodge rates , sleeping near the park beats a second RN2 crossing
- Book a guided Indri Trail walk , the mandatory guide is easier arranged ahead in high season
- Compare Antananarivo hotel rates for the arrival and departure nights
Day 1: Arrival in Tana
You land at Ivato International (TNR), about 16km outside Antananarivo, after one of the longest hauls in African travel, Air France’s Paris flight runs close to 11 hours and is the only nonstop from Europe. Spend the first afternoon easing in rather than sightseeing hard: change cash into ariary, one of only two non-decimal currencies still circulating anywhere, start counting days on your malaria prophylaxis if you haven’t already, and walk the Haute-Ville around the Rova hill for a first look over the highland capital before the jet lag catches up with you.
Day 2: The paved RN2, and the indri
The paved RN2 runs east to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in around 3 hours, the most reliable stretch of road in the country and the reason this is the one park almost every short Madagascar trip can actually reach. A certified guide is mandatory inside every national park here, entrance runs about 45,000 Ariary, the Indri Trail circuit guide fee another 25,000 Ariary, cash only. The payoff is the indri, the world’s largest living lemur and the only one whose call is loud enough to carry for miles through the canopy, a genuinely whale-like wail with nothing else in the animal kingdom to compare it to.
Overnight in Andasibe itself rather than pushing back to Tana the same day. The calls carry furthest at dawn, and a rushed afternoon visit misses that entirely. Check official Mantadia park info for current fees before you settle on a lodge.
Day 3: A dawn chorus, and the drive back
Go out again at first light specifically for the dawn chorus, when indri calls overlap between family groups and carry furthest, a genuinely different experience from an afternoon visit. A second, quieter circuit through the Mantadia sector, guide fee around 40,000 Ariary, turns up chameleons the size of a thumbnail and, on a night walk the evening before, mouse lemurs that never show themselves in daylight. Drive back to Tana in the afternoon, another 3 hours on the RN2.
That’s the honest limit of a three-day trip: Andasibe done properly, nothing further south or west. Exchange leftover ariary before you fly, it’s difficult to offload once you’re through security. Antsirabe and the RN7 wait for the 4 day itinerary , and current Madagascar Airlines routes plus the UK travel advisory are both worth a check before you extend this trip further.