Despite the long journey from the capital to the ‘City of the Sun’, vacationers are flocking to discover Toliara and its surroundings.
The final stretch is here. Before the start of the school year, vacationers and tourists are enjoying their last days of holiday under the Toliara sun. Seats in national transport cooperatives and companies, both for departures and returns between Tana and Toliara, are fully booked for the next ten days. The 968 km distance between Antananarivo and Toliara is no longer a deterrent for travelers.
“We are a family of five, including two young children. But the long journey did not discourage us. We want to enjoy the beautiful tourist sites we see on the Internet,” says the Rakotoson family, who traveled aboard one of the vehicles of the new transport cooperative Soatrans, which currently serves Toliara. The company has been almost fully booked since the opening of its Tana-Toliara line on July 24.
The transport company Cotisse, which offers the same range of services and vehicles, also continues to be fully booked daily with its four to six vehicles per day. This is not to mention the traditional cooperatives, which sometimes take the opportunity to increase transport fares given the large number of passengers in both directions. Sombin’ny Aina’s family, consisting of eleven people, came from afar to discover Toliara. They arrived from Canada and had been planning their trip for nearly a year.
“We especially wanted to see the beautiful beaches of Ambatomilo with their turquoise waters, and we used every means to discover them. We also visited renowned sites such as Sarodrano and the baobab forest in Mangily. We have no regrets,” explains the mother.
Another family from Tananarive says they now have a different image of the South after spending a week in the tropics of Mangily, Saint-Augustin, and the dunes of Andaboy. “I actually saw a pink flamingo! I enjoyed the lobsters!” says Tsiky Brunelle. She emphasizes that it was a real joy. “Toliara deserves better than the cliché of ‘dry land’ that is too often attached to it. I imagined Toliara as an essentially dry, arid, and dusty region. What a mistake. I discovered surprisingly generous vegetation and lush landscapes that I did not expect to see in the South,” she adds.
The city of Toliara continues to welcome vacationers and tourists, as evidenced by the crowds at the Jardin de la Mer, in craft shops, restaurants, and fast-food outlets, as well as the number of specially rented ‘Sprinter’ vehicles circulating in the City of the Sun. Just a week ago, some ten thousand women from the Lutheran Church gathered in Toliara. Only the Maître Kira stadium could accommodate so many people for their meetings, which lasted a week. The city’s high schools, middle schools, and primary schools served as reception and accommodation centers.
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-27 05:53:46 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/08/tourisme-toliara-continue-dattirer-les.html