Family Travel Ideas in Antananarivo

Antananarivo Family Travel can be adventurous and educational due to  Madagascar's rich history and the diversity of its flora and fauna. The zoos and parks are great places to spend the day exploring with your family.

Zoos

Tsimbazaza Zoo is a well-kept zoo located in the heart of Antananarivo and includes a natural history museum with many of Madagascar's artifacts. Children will especially love the camel and giant turtle exhibits along with a showing of almost every other animal native to Madagascar. The natural history museum contains information on Madagascar's architecture and history and the history of this island nation's unique plant and animal life. Madagascar Exotic is another zoo in Antananarivo that deals almost exclusively with reptiles. This zoo also has guides who will walk you through the park and bring out the reptiles and lemurs for you to see and photograph up close. Entrance fee, depending on the size of your group, starts at 10,000 MGA ($4.67 USD) including the guide (the guide will expect a tip).

Ambohimananga

Located about 24 km outside of Antananarivo, Ambohimananga is a "Royal Hill" of great significance to Malagasy history, culture and spiritualism. This quiet section outside of the city is a great place to spend a whole or half day of your Antananarivo family travel vacation. Local guides (most speak English and French) are available for a fee to give you a tour of the area and a brief history lesson, if needed. This is also a good place to pick up locally-made handicrafts for souvenirs. It is important you and your family to be respectful while visiting Ambohimananga. Many people from all across Madagascar and mainland Africa make a pilgrimage here during their lifetime and it is very important to their culture.

Sightseeing

Visiting different parts of the city is also a good way for you to spend a day with your family and to get accustomed with the local culture. Beautiful architecture, street vendors, open-air markets and Lake Onosy are some of the things you will want to see while you visit downtown. Visiting the open-air markets or Market Street are fun places to people-watch and to buy some souvenirs. While you visit these places, keep an eye out for the Queen's Palace on top of a hill overlooking the city. Lake Onosy, surrounded by many sights, is a nice quiet spot for a picnic.