Bike and Hike Wild Madagascar

Welcome to Madagascar! Our journey begins in the sprawling, high-altitude capital of Antananarivo — though you can drop the syllables and just call it "Tana" like the locals do. Try to arrive as early as possible if you want to explore the city’s key sites. We suggest visiting the iconic Queen's Palace perched high on the hill for superb views of the valley, followed by a ground-level stroll along Independence Avenue and a peek into what’s on sale at the lively Analakely Market. We meet at our tour hotel in the late afternoon for a trip briefing and welcome dinner. Please let us know if you require assistance with airport transfers and pre-tour hotel bookings.

It’s time to hit the road. Our five-hour drive south on the RN7 serves as a front-row introduction to the landscapes — and notoriously bumpy roads — of the Central Highlands that we’ll soon be cycling through. Roughly halfway, we stop to stretch our legs in Ambatolampy, a gritty but fascinating town with an economy built around backyard foundries melting down recycled scrap metal to produce hand-cast cooking pots used in virtually every kitchen across the island. Our final destination is Antsirabe, once a French colonial spa town, today an energized Malagasy city where thousands of colourful hand- or bike-pulled rickshaws cruise the streets and old boulevards. Upon arrival and checking into our hotel, we fit the bikes and head out for a gentle spin around the neighbourhood. Depending on how much time we have before sunset, this shake-out ride will be between 5 and 10 km. Sitting on a plateau at 1,500 metres above sea level, Antsirabe can get chilly at night.

Based out of Antsirabe, we embark on a loop in the countryside west of the city. We first follow a paved road for 10 km to reach Lake Andraikiba, a scenic crater lake ringed by dirt tracks that make for some great riding. As we veer away from the lake, we continue on rugged rural roads coiling through the endless rice terraces etched into the hillsides. By around 20 km we reach another volcanic lake: Tritriva. While much smaller than the first, it is incredibly deep, surrounded by forested cliffs, and shrouded in Merina local legends. Following our picnic lunch here we enjoy a breezy 5 km downhill through remote farmlands before the terrain levels out all the way back to Antsirabe. The rest of the afternoon is free to relax or explore town before reconvening for dinner.

With our legs warmed up and our senses acclimated to the heat and honking, we tackle the tour’s longest day on the bike. Taking an unhurried Malagasy pace – “mora-mora” (slowly, slowly) – we make our way south for nearly 100 km along RN7, a paved national road cutting through the Central Highlands. It’s a rolling ride through river valleys and emerald hills covered in rice terraces, sharing the road with taxi-brousses and herds of zebu cattle. We stop for refreshment breaks every 20 km or so and, after a shady picnic lunch, complete the final push into Ambositra. It may appear as a typical, busy market town on the surface, but Ambositra is an artisan hub par excellence, renowned for the ancestral wood carving traditions of the Zafimaniry. Before dinner, we will visit a local workshop to see the beautiful craftsmanship up close.

The day starts with a three-hour vehicle transfer further south along RN7. We then hop on our bikes and ease into the ride with around 12 km on tarmac before veering onto a mixed-surface road. Prepare for dust, gravel, and cows as we crisscross remote rural areas where the rhythm of life is bound to the planting and harvesting of rice. By 40 km, the highlands drop away and we descend into Madagascar's tropical rainforest – a remarkable transition to experience by bike. The lush jungle canopy surrounding us is part of Ranomafana National Park, a mist-shrouded wilderness famous for its rare lemurs and natural hot springs. We spend the next two nights here, basing ourselves in the small riverside town of Ranomafana at the edge of the national park.

Today we give our bikes a rest, but not our legs, as we spend the first part of the day hiking within Ranomafana National Park. Accompanied by a local guide, we set off in search of this untamed jungle’s most famous inhabitants: the golden bamboo lemurs. While sightings can’t be guaranteed, small families of these furry, wide-eyed primates regularly return to the same bamboo groves to munch on their favourite plant, so chances are usually pretty high. Expect a 4–6 hour trek, navigating root-tangled, muddy trails through a thick canopy of vines and towering trees. The afternoon is free to relax back in town, where you can soothe your muscles at a thermal spring. After the sun has set, we’ll organise a short outing to try and glimpse more of Ranomafana’s wildlife right by the side of the road. With a bit of luck — and the torchlight of our local guide — we hope to spot tiny mouse lemurs darting through the brush or sleeping chameleons perched on the branches.

We take a 25-minute uphill transfer and begin cycling near the same junction where, on Day 5, we descended into Ranomafana. But today we head further south and continue our traverse of the Central Highlands. It is an undulating ride with short, punchy climbs, a few fun descents, and lots of bumps and dirt to keep us on our toes. The scenery of red earth, terraced hillsides, and small farming villages may seem familiar by now, but once we reach Sahambavy, the sight of sprawling tea fields is always an unexpected shift in scenery (even when we know it’s coming!). Sahambavy is home to Madagascar’s one and only commercial tea estate with rows of neatly manicured tea bushes draped across the valley. It’s a lovely view to accompany our picnic lunch before a few remaining kilometres deliver us to the shores of a glassy lake at the edge of the estate. We spend the night in cosy bungalows surrounded by gardens and water.

A two-hour transfer reunites us with Madagascar’s north-south artery, the RN7, which we’ll start cycling on once we’ve cleared the busy city of Fianarantsoa. While the traffic thins out considerably at our start point, today’s ride has a livelier feel to it as we ripple from one roadside village or town to the next. Away from the road, it is a vast, open landscape of spiky agave, stacked rice paddies, and jagged mountain ridges. At around 40 km we reach the day’s highest point at 1,300 metres ASL and relish in a predominantly downhill finish to Ambalavao, the gateway to southern Madagascar. This small city is, depending on whether you’re a cow herder, a sommelier, or a tourist, a hub for zebu cattle trading, sweet grape wine, and pretty handmade paper products. Though for us cyclists – having just ridden a few hours on the RN7 – a cold drink or two at the hotel tucked away on the outskirts of town might sound even more enticing!

Starting directly from the hotel, we whiz through the centre of Ambalavao and begin our transition into the savannah of southern Madagascar. The terrain is scattered with huge granite domes. One of these is home to the Anja Community Reserve, which we pause to visit at the 15 km point. The highlight here is the large population of ring-tailed lemurs that hang out on Anja’s boulders and dry forest. We spend about an hour exploring the reserve before jumping back on the bikes with some steady climbing ahead for the next 15 km. The Andringitra Massif with its bare, vertical walls draws ever closer in the distance and, following a long descent, we veer off the RN7 onto a dirt trail leading us directly into this rocky wonderland. It’s around 20 km of gritty, off-road riding to end the day before we unwind at a rustic lodge at the base of the colossal Tsaranoro Cliff.

Leaving our bikes behind, we venture out on foot to tackle the 10 km hike up and down Chameleon Peak. This granite, lizard-shaped ridge provides the perfect vantage point to fully appreciate the scale of Andringitra’s valleys and cliffs. The first half of the hike zigzags its way up the weathered, sun-baked slopes covered in stones and dry shrubs. After enjoying the views at the top, the more forgiving descent leads us out of the wild and into the valley's Betsileo villages and rice paddies. The afternoon is free to relax back at the lodge where you can take a dip in the pool or have a staredown with the cheeky ring-tailed lemurs that have snuck in from the forest and are eyeing your post-hike snack.

We depart Andringitra on four wheels, rattling back towards the main road over the dirt tracks we came in on by bike two days ago. The drive then continues on the RN7, fast-tracking us into the expanse of the Horombe Plateau. These are the ancestral lands of the Bara, Madagascar’s most prolific zebu herders, many of whom maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle tending to their herds across the savannah. After around four hours on the road, we stop for lunch and unload the bikes to get pedalling. Though the road trends gently downhill for the majority of the way, the headwinds here can flip the script pretty quickly! The total distance is around 75 km but you can ride as much as you like. It’s just us, an endless horizon, and a quiet stretch of the RN7 before arriving in Ranohira, an unassuming town on the surface — though it acts as the gateway to Isalo National Park, one of Madagascar’s most remarkable geological wonders.

We spend the day hiking inside Isalo National Park, a wild labyrinth of deep gorges, Jurassic sandstone towers, and lush oases. It is also a sacred area for the Bara who, historically, used caves high up in the cliffs as tombs. And then, of course, there are the lemur families that live here, including the famed 'dancing lemurs'. We will be on the trails for around 4 to 6 hours at a leisurely pace, with plenty of time to cool off in hidden natural pools, admire the craggy rock formations, learn about the local wildlife, and stop for a shady picnic lunch. Though there is nothing overly steep, the blazing sun will keep us reaching for water very regularly. The afternoon is free to relax back at the hotel, though you may be tempted out to watch the beautiful sunset over the Isalo Massif.

The time has come to head for the coast! We have a long day on the road ahead, starting with a 25 km ride out of Ranohira along the southern fringes of Isalo National Park. The route cuts right through dramatic stacks of sandstone, sculpted by wind and rain over millions of years. We load the bikes outside of Ilakaka, a rough-and-tumble boomtown centred on sapphire mining, and jump into the support vehicle for a 6–7 hour transfer to the beaches of Ifaty on Madagascar’s south-west coast. While it is a long and bumpy drive, we have two nights at an eco-resort by the sea to look forward to.

Based in Ifaty, we have a front-row seat to the turquoise waters of the Mozambique Channel. How you want to experience this beautiful seascape is entirely up to you. You can chill by the pool, lounge on the beach, or treat yourself to a massage. If you’re craving one last serving of adventure, you can hop into a traditional dugout canoe manoeuvred by a Vezo fisherman to cruise Ranobe Bay and head out to the coral reef for some snorkelling. In the evening we meet for a celebratory farewell dinner.

Time to say goodbye! Feel free to extend your stay on the beach or begin your journey home by flying back to Tana. The nearest airport is Toliara Airport (TLE), around 1.5 hours away. If you are connecting to an international flight home on the same day, make sure you allow plenty of time to account for delays, which are not uncommon. Please let us know if you need assistance with post-tour hotel bookings or airport transfers.