Madagaskar

While it's the beaches that are the big attraction in the area north of Tamatave, with the quiet sand fringed coves of Mahambo being the best option, this region also holds other attractions including a tumble-down fortress in Foulpointe and an excellent zoo in Ivoloina. If you have your eyes set on the beaches and islands even further north then head to Soanierana-Ivongo, which is the ferry port for Île Sainte Marie. Beyond lies the daunting RN5 that can only be traversed by a reliable 4WD.

Café Imperial är egentligen inte ett café, men visst går det att fika här.

Ingen annanstans i världen är de senaste 1 000 årens arkitektur så samlad som uppe vid Pragborgen, Hradčany.

Att göra i Prag: besök Centraleuropas största begravningsplats Olšanský hřbitovy.

Morondava is a terminally laid-back seaside town with sandy streets and gently decaying clapboard houses. There is not much to do or see in the town itself, and most people come here on their way to and from Parc National Bemaraha, Belo-sur-Mer or Réserve Forestière de Kirindy. It's also the starting point for the gruelling three-day, off-road 4WD adventure that connects western Madagascar to Tuléar in the country's south. Closer-to-town attractions include the iconic Allée des Baobabs.

Tana, as the capital is universally known, is all about eating, shopping, history and day trips. Bypassing the city would be a mistake: Tana has been the home of Malagasy power for three centuries and there's a huge amount of history and culture to discover, as well as some unexpected wildlife options.

The best thing about Île Sainte Marie is that it contains all the ingredients for a great holiday and great travel. This is a very long (57km), thin, lush and relatively flat tropical island surrounded by beaches and reef and spotted with thatched villages. The port of Ambodifotatra, a quarter of the way up the western coast, is the only sizeable town. South of here, the shore is lined with a great variety of hotels and resorts, which don't overpower the setting, culminating in the small island of Île aux Nattes, a postcard tropical paradise where you can easily imagine pirates coming ashore with treasure chests in tow. In contrast, the upper half of the island is quite wild, and its great length means that there is plenty of room for exploration.

Madagascar’s number-one beach destination, the island of Nosy Be has all the ingredients you'd expect: soft white sand, turquoise waters and wonderful seafood. A paradise for water-based activities with its sunny climate most of the year, diving is the top draw, and there is plenty of swimming, snorkelling, sailing and fishing. Operators offer excursions to the surrounding islands with their beautiful beaches and great diving opportunities.

Ifaty and Mangily, around 25km north of Tuléar, are two separate villages 3km apart that share the same beach, confusingly known as Ifaty Beach (the Dunes d’Ifaty, for example, is in Mangily). Ifaty is by far the smaller tourist destination, even while its name continues to usurp the latter. The popularity of this area is largely due to its location close to Tuléar and the excellent paved road that connects them. The beaches are really quite poor relative to other options: rocky at times, very shallow for much of the day and with seagrass beds rather than sandy bottoms. The unkempt villages, saturated by tourism, are not very attractive, either. Nevertheless, the snorkelling is good, the whales come past here and there are a lot of resorts to choose from, including some really good ones.

Madagascar's most important seaport, Tamatave is a hot, dusty and chaotic town full of decaying colonial buildings, roadside markets and throngs of pousse-pousse carts. The emphasis is on commerce, not tourism, apart from being an important transit point.