Why this ride
From Antananarivo it runs 396 km to Ifanadiana; allow about 6 h 42 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Madagascar RN7: Antananarivo to Ranomafana
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 396 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 42
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Antananarivo
Antananarivo, which everyone calls Tana, is built on a long ridge and a dozen hills in the middle of Madagascar's highlands, at about twelve hundred and eighty metres, and it looks like a city from another century. Red-brick houses with steep roofs and narrow balconies climb the slopes in terraces, rice paddies fill the valleys right up to the edge of town, and on the highest hill stands the Rova, the old royal palace, whose granite walls were rebuilt after a fire in 1995. In the morning, the city is wrapped in smoke from charcoal stoves and the air is cool, and in the afternoon, a warm light picks out the colours of the old houses.
Read the complete Antananarivo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Antananarivo is where the day begins. Next is Antsirabe.
2. Antsirabe
Antsirabe sits at about fifteen hundred metres in the central highlands of Madagascar, and the altitude gives it a cool, dry climate that surprises visitors who expect the island to be tropical. Nights can be chilly, even in the dry season, and the town feels a long way from the heat of the coast. The Norwegian missionaries who founded it in 1856 chose the site for its healthy air and its hot springs, and the name, which means the place of much salt, refers to the mineral waters that bubble from the ground.
Read the complete Antsirabe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Antsirabe comes up about 169 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ranomafana.
3. Ranomafana
Ranomafana means hot water in Malagasy, and the name is a clue to the place. The village sits in a steep, forested valley on the escarpment that drops from Madagascar's central highlands toward the east coast, where the Namorona river drops over rapids and hot springs seep from the rock. The surrounding national park, created in 1991, protects some of the island's most important rainforest, and in 2007 it was added to a UNESCO listing of the rainforests of the Atsinanana. Mist hangs in the trees, orchids cling to the branches, and the air is warm and damp.
Read the complete Ranomafana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 396 km.
Leg by leg
Antananarivo to Antsirabe
Antananarivo → Antsirabe is 169 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Antsirabe to Ranomafana
Antsirabe → Ranomafana is 227 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.