Things to Do in Madagascar: City Guides & Audio Tours

Looking for things to do in Madagascar? This Indian Ocean island is a biodiversity hotspot shaped by long isolation, migration and cultural exchange. More than 90 percent of its wildlife is endemic, while its history and traditions reflect Austronesian, African and other influences. Neywo offers free audio guides for 2 cities in Madagascar, with 8 narrated places in total and 1 walking tour.

What to see and do in Madagascar

Madagascar’s story begins with its geography. The island separated first from Africa and later from the Indian subcontinent, leaving its plants and animals to evolve in relative seclusion. The result is wildlife found nowhere else on Earth and a landscape whose natural history is central to any Madagascar travel guide.

But there is more to the country than its biodiversity. The first permanent settlers were Austronesian peoples, probably arriving in outrigger canoes from what is now Indonesia. Bantu groups later crossed from East Africa, and other communities settled on the island over time. These migrations helped form a shared Malagasy identity alongside many distinct peoples and traditions.

Antananarivo

The capital, Antananarivo, is the best place to explore Madagascar’s political and cultural history. The city is associated with the Merina Kingdom, which eventually united much of the island under Merina nobles. Its historic places also reflect the changes that followed, including French annexation and Madagascar’s return to independence in 1960.

Neywo’s Antananarivo audio guide includes five narrated places:

The Merina Kingdom

The Merina Kingdom is central to the history of Madagascar’s unification. Its rulers helped bring much of the island under a single kingdom, making it an essential subject for understanding the country’s political past.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral is one of the narrated places in Antananarivo. It forms part of the city’s historical and religious landscape.

Andafiavaratra

Andafiavaratra is another stop on the Antananarivo route. Together with the city’s other narrated sites, it helps connect the capital’s places with the wider story of Merina rule and Madagascar’s political change.

EKAR Faravohitra

EKAR Faravohitra is included among Neywo’s narrated places in the capital. It offers another point from which to discover Antananarivo’s built and cultural heritage.

Antananarivo is also the country’s capital and one of the places where Madagascar’s official languages, Malagasy and French, meet in everyday public life.

Morondava and the Avenue of the Baobabs

On Madagascar’s west coast, Morondava is associated with one of the island’s best-known natural sights, the Avenue of the Baobabs. The city and the surrounding Menabe region are covered by three narrated places on Neywo.

Avenue of the Baobabs

The Avenue of the Baobabs is the leading stop in Morondava. Its baobab trees represent the distinctive plant life that makes Madagascar a biodiversity hotspot, where a large majority of wildlife is endemic to the island.

Morondava

Morondava itself is one of the places covered by the audio guide. It provides a starting point for discovering this part of Madagascar and its relationship with the surrounding Menabe region.

Menabe

Menabe is also included among the narrated stops in Morondava. The region adds geographical context to a visit focused on the west of the island and the landscapes associated with the city and the Avenue of the Baobabs.

Madagascar’s history and identity

Madagascar’s cultural identity developed through several waves of settlement rather than from a single origin. Austronesian peoples arrived first among the permanent settlers, followed by Bantu groups from East Africa and other communities over time. Their encounters created both shared Malagasy traditions and many distinct peoples.

For centuries, shifting alliances shaped political life on the island. The eventual expansion of the Kingdom of Madagascar under Merina nobles marked an important stage of unification. French annexation later changed the country’s political history, before Madagascar regained independence in 1960.

Today, the country’s official languages are Malagasy and French. This combination of island ecology, migration, cultural exchange and political change is what makes Madagascar more than a destination for nature-focused travel.

Explore Madagascar with Neywo

Download Neywo to discover Madagascar through its places and stories. The app currently covers 2 cities, with 1 walking tour and 8 narrated places in total: 5 places in Antananarivo and 3 in Morondava. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Choose an audio guide for Antananarivo or Morondava, walk from one stop to the next and let the history of Madagascar unfold around you.