Avenue des Baobabs: one of the most beautiful places in Madagascar!

Avenue des Baobabs is located in western Madagascar, around 40 minutes from the city of Morondava. See the map of Madagascar below. The famous street with baobabs (Adansonia Grandidieri) is just above Morondava. This map basically describes the starting point of our road trip on dirt-roads from Morondava to Tulear. This blog will be soon translated into English.

Map of Madagascar including Morondave (Allée des Baobabs)!

Is it worth visiting Avenue des Baobabs in Madagascar?

This is the question we asked ourselves too. We had a three-week itinerary for the south of Madagascar in mind. We were planning to ride the RN7, which runs from Antananarivo, all the way to the southern city of Tulear. From here, we would take the same road back. To go to Avenue des Baobab (and Morondava), after Antsirabe, we would have to take the RN34 and drive for eight hours.

That would not only be a big detour, but it would also be boring to drive the same part twice! In this way, we would put a lot of effort into seeing ‘just’ a street of baobabs. Baobabs can be seen in more places in Madagascar, so why bother visiting Morondava?

But Ries could not put these scenic trees out of his head! He could not have travelled through Madagascar for two months and not have photographed the most famous image of the country! Avenue des Baobabs is probably the most scenic road in whole Madagascar!

A new travel itinerary to explore the south of Madagascar

Fortunately, there was Jonah, the owner of Ramartour, who convinced us to go anyway. We would not have to drive the same route twice if we travel south via the RN9 after Avenue des Baobabs. We were under the assumption that this itinerary was not possible if you don’t have a guide! Besides, would this RN9 route be safe? Furthermore, we never drove more than 2 hours on a dirt road! Can we really go from Morondave to Tulear via the coastal route (i.e. RN9) in Madagascar?

Jonah said the last year more and more ‘adventurous’ travellers are taking this itinerary. The roads are safe to travel. If you are not afraid of asking the way, you will be fine. Moreover, what’s the point of having a 4×4 if you are not driving on dirt roads?

Explore the sandy road between Morondava and Tulear with a 4×4 and without a guide!

Jonah’s positive message changed everything! We changed our itinerary for the south of Madagascar.  Now we make a ‘loop’ in our itinerary through the South of Madagascar: Antisirabe, Morondava, Tuluear and then via the RN 7 back to Antananarivo! This travel route is easy to do without a guide. More importantly, this route is safe for tourists who drive themselves. As a result, we will see the most popular sight of Madagascar and go on a great adventure of three days through only dirt roads! Avenue des Baobabs, here we come!

Very different from the day before: no fog but a clear sunset. At 15.00 we arrive at Avenue des Baobabs, we are the only one! We did not expect this. We make full use of this possibility and make a pair of cool videos and photos.

The larger tourist buses arrive an hour later. In no time you stumble over the stands and a few hundred people walk through the trees. However, this does nothing for the special experience. It is still unique to walk through these tall trees and watch the sun go down!

After the beautiful sunrise, we get back in the car to continue our way. We look at each other with satisfaction and are very happy that we did not have skipped this special place in Madagascar! Wow, how beautiful Alléé de Baobabs is! Never knew how special a few trees along the road can be! So yes, a visit to Avenue des Baobabs is more than worth it! Make sure you don’t skip this destination during your trip through Madagascar!

You reach Avenue des Baobabs (also known as L’allée des Baobab or Alley of the Baobabs) after a dirt road of 5 kilometres. It takes about 40 minutes by car from Morondava. There is no admission fee, but you pay 2000 Ar (€ 0.50) to park your car. If you go by taxi, you pay 50,000 Ar, whereby the taxi driver keeps waiting for you and takes you back into the city.

If you are backpacking through Madagascar then you have roughly two options to admire the baobabs:

1. It is possible to book a tour from Antananarivo to this Avenue des Baobabs. Many hotels can help you book this tour.
2. You travel with local transport in so-called “taxi brousse” or with more luxurious buses from Antananarivo to Morondava. The more comfortable busses should be booked in advance. These buses are often fully booked. If this is the case, only the cheap taxi brousse is left! Taxi brousses are faster, but the drivers drive like crazy and the bus is literally stuffed. This is absolutely not funny if you have to be on the bus for eight hours!
3. Many tourists travel from Antananarivo or Antisirabe to Morondava. Perhaps you can travel with other travellers. We came across backpackers who came to Avenue des Baobabs in this way.

There are no hotels near Avenue des Baobabs, all hotels are in Morondava. We slept in the super cheap and clean Hotel Menabe, for just € 12.50. Looking for something more luxurious and something you can book online? See below, our recommendations for Morondava.

Avenue des Baobabs is definitely worth it to visit! it is a beautiful place that I certainly did not want to miss in Madagascar! Here are a few tips to be well prepared for your trip to Alléé des Baobabs:

1. In the morning it is absolutely the best time to visit the Baobabs, there are relatively few other tourists.
2. Do you want this street of baobabs (almost) for you alone? Then go in the afternoon. Chances are that you are the only traveller!
3. Avenue des Baobabs is a sandy road without street lighting. So be aware that it is nice to have a jeep or 4×4. Especially, when it has rained! When the sun is down, it is enormously dark and local traffic is difficult to see. So drive carefully.
4. Next to Allée des Baobabs is a nice modern cafe where you can have a drink. Further down the street are all small local eateries where you can get food
5. On this well-known route, there are always sellers who want you to taste the baobab fruit. They ask a lot of money for this. We have bought and tasted this fruit at a local market, much cheaper. The baobab fruit is not our thing by the way … it is very difficult to eat and, moreover, not really tasty.