Visit Antsirabe, Madagascar

Antsirabe is a small spa town roughly halfway between Antananarivo and Ranomafana.

Colonial and modern Antsirabe

Signs of its colonial past can still be seen today in the town’s wide boulevards, imposing cathedral and crumbling white villas, enlivened by countless signs of Madagascar today, including the colourful pousse-pousses that race along the town’s streets, all brightly coloured, and each with their own name and number plate! Numerous stalls cluster on each street corner selling everything from bananas to spare bicycle parts.

Local culture

The cool, clear air of the high plateau makes Antsirabe an attractive stop on the route to the south, and it is an excellent place to see local craftsmen at work; hundreds of tiny workshops are scattered across town, making sweets, delicate lacework and tiny model bicycles. A visit to the thermal baths is also fun and you’ll find a wonderfully hot swimming pool full of a lot of splashing and laughter.