Places · Madagascar

Natural Wonders of Madagascar: The 4 Most Beautiful Places to Visit

4 places in the atlas

Isolated in the Indian Ocean for some 90 million years, Madagascar evolved a natural world unlike anywhere else: around nine in ten of its species are endemic. Lemurs — found only here — leap through its forests; six baobab species stand where none grow elsewhere; and its landscapes range from rainforest and dry deciduous woodland to the astonishing 'tsingy,' vast fields of razor-sharp limestone pinnacles. From the Avenue of the Baobabs to the stone labyrinth of Bemaraha, the island is one of the planet's great biodiversity treasures — and one of its most threatened. Below are the 4 natural wonders of Madagascar in the atlas — the most beautiful places to build a trip around, each with what makes it remarkable, when to go, and how to reach it. Best overall time: The dry season (roughly April–November) for accessible roads and wildlife; many parks close or become hard to reach in the wet season.

Tsingy de Bemaraha

Melaky, western Madagascar

A vast 'forest of stone' — a labyrinth of razor-sharp limestone pinnacles rising in grey blades from the Madagascar wilderness, hiding canyons, caves, and creatures found nowhere else.

Karst landscape Africa

Avenue of the Baobabs

Menabe, western Madagascar

A dirt road lined with towering, ancient baobab trees — vast smooth trunks rising like columns, some close to a thousand years old, glowing at sunset in one of Africa's most iconic scenes.

Forest Africa

Isalo National Park

Ihorombe Region, southwestern Madagascar, near Ranohira

A sandstone massif carved into canyons up to 200 m deep, plateaus and natural swimming pools in southwestern Madagascar — home to ring-tailed lemurs and plants found nowhere else.

Canyon Africa

Ranomafana National Park

Southeastern Madagascar, near Ranomafana town

Misty montane rainforest on Madagascar's eastern escarpment, home to thirteen lemur species including the golden bamboo lemur — part of the Rainforests of the Atsinanana World Heritage Site.