Skip to content
Mixroutes
Antananarivo
Capital and largest city of Madagascar

Antananarivo

Antananarivo, also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar.

Plan a trip to Antananarivo→From Toamasina

The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra, is the capital of Analamanga region.

Get in

Getting to Antananarivo

Antananarivo is the main entry point for Madagascar by air. International flights to the capital are covered in the main Madagascar page.

See

Worth seeing

The city is really attractive and a photographers dream. The architecture is a mix of French countryside and Indonesia. Rice paddies scattered all over the city add a brilliant green to the pastel terracotta of the buildings.

  1. 01
    Rova

    Royal palace complex and former residence of the rulers of the Merina Kingdom.

  2. 02
    Prime Minister's Palace
  3. 03
    Lemurs' Park

    Route Nationale n°1, PK 22, Katsaoka Imerintsiatosika - Route d'Ampefy (25 km West of Antananarivo on RN1),.

  4. 04
    Croc Farm
  5. 05
    Botanical and Zoological Garden of Tsimbazaza

    Zoo and herbarium with animal skeletons on display too.

  6. 06
    Cathedrale catholique d Andohalo

    Cathedral with a big statue of Mary that was built in 1890.

Do

Things to do

Jean Be Tours, Lot IVD 63 Ter AA, Ambohibahiny, Ankaraobato, marivelo.trekk@yahoo.fr. Jean Be Tours is a concierge travel guide service. The owner Jean is an experienced tour guide for Madagascar who speaks English and French. On individually organized trips, one can meet local people, take photographs and collect souvenirs and memories. Mada-Liberté Off Road Motorcycle Tours in Madagascar (4WD Off Road Tours).

Eat

Where to eat

  1. 01
    La Table de Mariette

    This is a good choice for high quality Malagasy food.

  2. 02
    Ile Bourbon
  3. 03
    La Brasserie at the France Hotel

    Also vegetarian (non vegan) dishes, a very cheesy veg lasagne for 13,000 Ar.

  4. 04
    Grill De Rova

    Near Palace de Rova.

  5. 05
    KudeTa

    A slick setting for excellent French-influenced Malagasy food.

How locals move

Getting around Antananarivo the local way

  • Get inThe taxi brousse is an incredibly cheap option, and should cost 2×800=1600 Ar from the airport to downtown.
  • Get inFor travelling by road, there are three options: a private vehicle hire, a scheduled bus service or taxi brousse (bush taxi).
  • Go nextRoad transport is by bus to limited destinations, taxi-brousse (shared taxi) to a variety of destinations or by car rental (usually with driver).
  • Go nextAlthough travel by taxi-brousse is guaranteed to try one's patience and sanity, there is quite possibly no better way to meet and interact with the locals and experience Madagascar as the Malagasy do.

From Wikivoyage: Antananarivo, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Zambog (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.