What a visitor's money does in Madagascar: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Malagasy Ariary (MGA) · 1 EUR = 5,035 MGA · 1 USD = 4,387 MGA
A cash country. Euros change best, dollars second, and almost nothing outside the capital and the resorts takes a card. The largest note is 20,000 ariary, so a week of spending is a brick of paper — bring a bag for it.
Avoid: assuming there is a machine outside a city, because there is not
Use: BNI, BFV-SG, BOA
The largest note is 20,000 ariary, worth about four euros, so a week of cash is a brick of paper. Limits are low and the fee is per withdrawal. Draw before leaving Antananarivo or Nosy Be.
A short ride in Madagascar: 10,000–25,000 Ar across town — cheap
From the airport: Ivato airport to the centre 60,000–100,000 Ar
Cheaper than the cream-coloured taxis, which are negotiated and elderly.
Rice three times a day, with romazava (a beef and greens stew) or ravitoto (pounded cassava leaves with pork). On the coast the seafood is extraordinary and costs almost nothing. The vanilla is the best in the world and is worth carrying home.
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
