Madagascar Packing List
- Country Madagascar
- Guide Packing
- Reviewed 19 August 2026
- Length 1 min read
Credit NP023, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Last reviewed 19 August 2026
Madagascar is very large and very varied, and the distances between its climates are long. A single trip can take in humid eastern rainforest, the cool highlands around Antananarivo at over a thousand meters, and the spiny dry southwest. Packing for one of those and not the others is the commonest mistake.
The second commonest is assuming you can buy what you forgot. Outside the capital, you often cannot.
Clothing
- Light long sleeves and long trousers. They handle sun, mosquitoes and brambles at once.
- A fleece and a warm layer for the highlands, which are genuinely cold at night.
- A proper rain jacket for the eastern rainforest, where it rains all year.
- Walking boots with ankle support and grip. Trails are rooty, muddy and steep.
- Sandals for the coast and for the end of a long day.
- A hat with a brim, and sunglasses.
Everything else
- A head torch with spare batteries, for night walks and for power cuts.
- Insect repellent with a high DEET content, and a mosquito net if you are camping.
- Water purification tablets or a filter bottle. Tap water is not safe to drink.
- A full personal medical kit, including rehydration salts and any prescription medicine.
- A universal adapter and a power bank. Supply is intermittent outside the towns.
- Cash in euros, and a dry bag for the boat and river sections.
Two things worth buying before you go
Antimalarial medication is one. Malaria is present across the island and the decision about which drug to take is a medical one, made with a travel clinic at least eight weeks before departure, not a purchase to make on arrival.
The other is a good head torch. Almost every reason to visit a Malagasy rainforest comes out after dark, the night walk is the highlight of most itineraries, and a phone light is neither bright enough nor kind to the animals.