Madagascar journeys that give the island time

A tailor-made Madagascar round trip starts with us at €4,000 per person, excluding international flights. Our overland route "Nördliche Kontraste" runs 13 days from €4,545 per person; at the upper end, the range reaches €34,375 per person for the exclusive fly-in journey "Best of Madagaskar", eleven days in Anjajavy and on the private island of Nosy Ankao. The biggest single factor is how you cover the distances – road or charter flight – followed by lodge category and season. Your personal proposal itemises every service.

It depends above all on how much time you want to spend in transit. Our route "Nördliche Kontraste" takes 13 days for the east and the north – Andasibe, Joffreville, the Ankarana Reserve and four closing days by the sea – and shows you considerably more of the country, but asks for patience on longer legs. If you would rather not cover those distances yourself, the fly-in option is the answer: "Best of Madagaskar" links Antananarivo, the natural paradise of Anjajavy and the private island of Nosy Ankao in eleven days. You gain time on the ground – at a distinctly different price level.

We recommend at least 12 days. Madagascar is the fourth-largest island on earth, and the distances between the eastern rainforest, the dry forests of the north and the north-western islands cannot simply be compressed – with less time, too much of it is spent moving. With 13 to 14 days there is also room for a calm finish by the sea; that is exactly how our "Nördliche Kontraste" route is built, with four beach days. Anyone hoping to see humpback whales off Saint Marie will be travelling between June and September anyway, and should allow a few extra days for it.

For the dry season between late April and early November we recommend enquiring 9 to 12 months ahead. The houses we recommend are small – Masoala Forest Lodge has seven tented rooms, Time + Tide Tsara Komba eight suites, Time + Tide Miavana fourteen villas – and fill up early in high season. Outside high season there is often still room at shorter notice; do get in touch. Between December and April, however, Madagascar sees heavy rainfall and cyclones – we plan only selectively in those months.

Yes, with one caveat: Madagascar rewards curiosity about nature more than a wish for frictionless logistics. You will see species found nowhere else on earth – lemurs, chameleons, baobabs – but in return you accept longer journeys and a less dense tourism infrastructure. If your first trip to Africa should above all feel relaxed, the fly-in option is the better entry point: less time in transit, more time in a few very well-run places. Tell us which matters more to you, and we will shape the route accordingly.

Yes – provided the pace is right. The houses we work with are set up for it: Time + Tide Miavana welcomes children of all ages, offers two- and three-bedroom villas plus a study that converts into a children's room, and runs its own children's programme; Time + Tide Tsara Komba likewise welcomes children of any age. For families we shorten the legs considerably, build in more nights per stop and focus on national parks with short, easily walkable trails. Tell us how old your children are, and route, houses and activities follow from there.