Not to miss

Nosy Be

Nosy Be is Madagascar's premier resort island, with several smaller islands including Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely, Nosy Sakatia and Nosy Mitsio nearby. Nosy Be is popular with people looking for a resort-style holiday, as it has plenty of restaurants and nightlife and some excellent dive spots.

A little-known highlight of Nosy Be is Marodoka, a coastal ruin gradually being reclaimed by the bush. Local legend attributes its construction to a boatload of Indian sailors shipwrecked during the 17th or 18th century.

Fianarantsoa

Fianarantsoa is the academic and intellectual centre of Madagascar, in the heart of the country's premier agricultural region. It also has a good selection of cheap and comfortable accommodation. West of the city the horizon is dominated by Mt Kianjasoa - take a jacket as it can get very cold.

Basse-Ville is the poorest, liveliest area in the city, with a Swiss-styled railway station, post office and taxi-brousse stations. Nouvelle-Ville is the business area with the banks and several hotels, but the most beautiful district is Haute-Ville, on a hill overlooking the two other districts.

Ifaty

Most travellers visit the quiet coastal area of Ifaty, featuring the villages of Ifaty, Mangilly and Mandio Rano, or sit under a palm tree on a white sandy beach. With coral reefs just offshore, sea breezes whispering in the casuarina trees and a relaxed tropical ambience, who can blame them?

There's whale-watching in July and August, and the amazing spiny forest along the road just north of Mangilly is well worth a look.

Parc National de L'Isalo

The flat, grassy plains of the hauts plateaux near Ranohira are abruptly broken by towering sandstone massifs sculpted by wind and water into gorges and craggy bluffs. It's one of the country's most spectacular regions, perfect for overnight hikes, rock-hopping along cool canyons and spotting lemurs.

It's best to visit during the cooler months (April to October), when the bizarre pachypodiums and periwinkles are in flower on the rock faces and walking is more comfortable. The Sakalava people used to bury their dead in caves high up on cliff faces and some areas are fady (taboo) even today.

Official guides are compulsory for visits to the park and fees depend on the length of each trek. All trails start and finish in Ranohira, and range from one to seven days in length. All arrangements and permits can be dealt with at the Angap office in Ranohira.

Two popular short trips are a day walk to Canyon des Singes & Piscine Naturelle, where you can take a plunge in the cool water; and Natural Window, a short way off the highway. Here you can watch the sun rise or set through a large, square hole in the rock, although at times it gets crowded.

Parc National de Montagne d'Ambre

Northern Madagascar's most visited attraction, the park covers 18,200 hectares of a prominent volcanic massif, created in 1958 to preserve the area's biological treasures and the massif itself. Montagne d'Ambre's flora and fauna are virtually the same as that in the eastern rainforests, with a few endemic species not found farther south.

The forest is lush, with over 3.5m of rain a year. Of the seven lemur species in the park, the most notable are the crowned lemur and Sanford's brown lemur. The reptile and amphibian life is diverse, and includes frogs, geckoes, chameleons and snakes. Look especially for the bizarre blue-nosed chameleon and the stump-tailed chameleon. Birdwatchers won't be disappointed as 73 species of birds have been recorded in the park.

Montagne d'Ambre is ideal for walkers during the dry season, and it has about 20km of well-maintained paths. Worth seeing are the Petite Cascade, a beautiful small waterfall flowing into a gorgeous rock pool surrounded by fern covered cliffs, and the Petit Lac, a serene crater lake reached after a steep walk.

Near the Petite Cascade is a path known as the Jardin Botanique, a forest track with a good mix of interesting and bizarre vegetation, including orchids, palms, lianas and bromeliads.