Overview
Take a trip to Antananarivo on your Madagascar Vacation
When travelling on a Madagascar vacation, situated inland, about 145 km (90 mi) from Madagascar’s east coast Antananarivo, the country’s capital and its largest city. Unlike many other capitals found in southern Africa, Antananarivo was already considered a major city before colonialism reached Madagascar.
Antananarivo was founded in the early 1600s and earned the name “The City of the Thousand” from the number of soldiers that were assigned to guard it. The city was captured by the French in 1895 bringing it into France’s Madagascar protectorate. When Madagascar achieved independence in 1960, Antananarivo remained the capital city and began to grow at a rapid pace.
Today, Antananarivo serves as Madagascar’s administrative, communications and economic centre and is divided into three different levels that are linked by stairways. First, there is the Downtown area that features the Avenue de l’Indéndence, a broad shopping centre with a market at the upper end. Next is the “Plateau du Colbert” located in the middle of the cliffs, and finally, the old city in the upper town where palaces, cathedrals and many ancient noble families are found on a Madagascar vacation.
Antananarivo is a unique city offering equally unique architecture. It is not uncommon to see a blend of wooden houses and modern office buildings as well as structures built in a traditional French colonial style. The best way to experience this capital city is on foot allowing for opportunities to visit markets and to see the sights when travelling to Madagascar.
Antananarivo is a unique city offering equally unique architecture. It is not uncommon to see a blend of wooden houses and modern office buildings as well as structures built in a traditional French colonial style. The best way to experience this capital city is on foot allowing for opportunities to visit markets and to see the sights when travelling to Madagascar.
At a Glance
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French, MalagasyCurrency
Malagasy Ariary (MGA)Trending Trips
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4 Trips Found
Classic Madagascar: Rainforests & Rivers
AntananarivoExplore Madagascar’s lush eastern rainforests and striking southern spiny landscapes on a private-guided journey seeking lemurs, wildlife, and rich local culture.
10 days
From US$7,578/p.p.
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1000 Views of Madagascar
AntananarivoSmall group Madagascar journey through rainforests, canyons and coastal shores, spotting lemurs and chameleons while meeting local traditions along the way.
14 days
From US$5,250/p.p.
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Explore Madagascar, Mandrare & Masoala
AntananarivoEncounter Madagascar at its most magical on this private-guided journey of wildlife, riverside calm and rainforest wonder, woven with vibrant local culture.
12 days
From US$17,610/p.p.
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Madagascar Adventure: Forests, Wildlife & Coasts
AntananarivoExplore Madagascar’s wild northwest and lush east on this private-guided trip through tsingy forests, rainforests, and remote coasts teeming with rare wildlife.
12 days
From US$15,307/p.p.
Request a Quote
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perfect trip idea?
Request a custom quote.
Turn your travel dreams into reality with Goway. Our customized vacations take travellers to all corners of the world.
Classic Madagascar: Rainforests & Rivers
AntananarivoExplore Madagascar’s lush eastern rainforests and striking southern spiny landscapes on a private-guided journey seeking lemurs, wildlife, and rich local culture.
10 days
From US$7,578/p.p.
Request a Quote
1000 Views of Madagascar
AntananarivoSmall group Madagascar journey through rainforests, canyons and coastal shores, spotting lemurs and chameleons while meeting local traditions along the way.
14 days
From US$5,250/p.p.
Request a Quote
Explore Madagascar, Mandrare & Masoala
AntananarivoEncounter Madagascar at its most magical on this private-guided journey of wildlife, riverside calm and rainforest wonder, woven with vibrant local culture.
12 days
From US$17,610/p.p.
Request a Quote
Madagascar Adventure: Forests, Wildlife & Coasts
AntananarivoExplore Madagascar’s wild northwest and lush east on this private-guided trip through tsingy forests, rainforests, and remote coasts teeming with rare wildlife.
12 days
From US$15,307/p.p.
Request a Quote
Don't see the
perfect trip idea?
Request a custom quote.
Turn your travel dreams into reality with Goway. Our customized vacations take travellers to all corners of the world.
What do the experts say?
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antananarivo vacation packages
View of the Presidential Palace makes for a gre...
Panoramic view of Antananarivo
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AntananarivoPartly Cloudy
32°C / 89°F
25mm / 1.0"
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ExcellentBased on 5,276 ReviewsMichael at Goway Travel was great to work with. We were planning a pre-trip with him prior to a group tour. He worked with us to hit the special places we wanted to visit and things we wanted to do. The accommodations arranged exceeded our expectations. Local guides were all amazing. This was the third trip we booked through Goway, and we will definitely book with them again in the future David PickaGoway Travel has South Pacific travel Consultant and they are all very experienced. ALICE was the agent who took care of my travel to Australia and she suggested best hotel accommodations excursions and worked within my budget. I had wonderful trip without any problems. Alice was very helpful and we are planning another trip will contact her.SaralAlice Teramoto Put together a perfect trip to Aitutaki and Rarotonga. The tours she included added to the experience. She was the glue to combine the complete package and would highly recommend her services.Valued CustomerWe just came back from a wonderful trip to Portugal. From the time I contacted Goway until now, I have been more than satisfied with our experience. Our agent Michael put together a 8 day package with all the requirements we had asked for. The 8 day trip went so seamless & took all the stress off us travelling in Portugal. Michael not only listened to what we wanted, but he was so quick to respond to all of our calls, emails & concerns. The transfers, hotels & tours he arranged were the best. We would highly recommend Goway. I can hardly wait to book our next adventure with Goway. CathyMichael Keon from Goway Travel made our family trip to Greece memorable. Michael was a call or email away when planning our Greece trip and worked with us on our tight budget. Every detail was worked out for us before we got on the plane.
Shout out to Nico, one of our drivers in Mykonos and all the great expeditions we went on.
I highly recommend Goway Travel to plan your next vacation adventures.
Jacqueline G. Jacqueline GarrettI just returned from a wonderful trip to Sweden and Norway. I had the good fortune of working with Michael Keon who helped me plan and customize an interesting and balanced itinerary.
All of the logistics went well, flights, transfers, hotels in great locations, travel between destinations, fjord safaris, cruises and guided tours with knowledgeable guides to inform and make the experience even more memorable.
Michael was responsive to all of my questions and made it so easy to both prepare for and ultimately enjoy the trip.
Looking forward to planning the next one!GailJust got back from a fabulous safari holiday in Tanzania. The trip was amazing! Exceeded my expectations. The people, the local team at Sense of Africa, the food, the accommodations (Karibu camps: Elephant Springs+Lion’s Paw and Sametu), the safari from the sky (hot air balloon)… I can keep going. Perfect way to celebrate my 50th bday.
Thanks again to Alice Teramoto and Goway for making this happen! Truly a trip of a lifetimeKARISSA CARRASQUILLOI have had Melissa Moses plan our trips for us for quite a few years. She always finds interesting sights for us to see, the hotels are always beautiful and everything runs perfectly. Can't wait to get started on the next adventure. Andrea JonesJust returned from a two week trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest booked by Michael Keon at Goway
This was our second trip booked with Michael
Hotels were all excellent, in great locations, transfers to and from airports went without a hitch and train travel was exactly as planned.
As we worked through all the details of planning the trip, he responded to lib questions promptly, making finalizing the trip very easy
I would highly recommend him as a travel agent, and we will be using him again
Kevin BourkeKatie's knowledge and support were the primary reason the trip worked so well.
Everything went smoothly, and the vacation could not have been any better. The hotels were wonderful, the two tours we took went well, and there were no issues with flights or transfers.
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