Best routes to climb Kilimanjaro

Our advice on the best routes to climb Kilimanjaro

There are eight Kilimanjaro authorized routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Starting from the southern view there are the Machame, Western Breach and Umbwe routes, from the West there are the Lemosho and Shira routes and the Northern Circuit, from the east there is the Marangu route and from the north there is the Rongai route all taking you to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the Uhuru peak.

Our main reasons for comparing which of these are the best routes to recommend are the available summit success rates. Customers consistently tell us that getting to the top is their number one priority and recommending routes with the highest summit success rates seems like the best way to meet this goal.  Following this principle, we generally recommend four routes all of which, if climbed over 7 or more days, offer you a very good chance of summiting successfully.

Our recommendations are the Machame, Lemosho, Northern Circuit and Rongai routes.

Machame Route – 7 Days trek plus 2 nights hotel Prices Prices from $2099

If you have just 9 days and want to have the best chance of going home and saying “I climbed Kilimanjaro” the Machame route is the one for you. Starting to the south-west of Kilimanjaro it circuits south before climbing to Uhuru Peak via Stella Point. With excellent acclimatization and varied and interesting scenery every day it is a great choice for the beginner climber.

Lemosho Route – 8 Days trek plus 2 nights hotel Prices Prices from $2399

Approaching from the west, the Lemosho route is one of our highly recommended routes. The first three days of the ascent are quiet and relatively untraveled, then on day four it joins the busy Machame route. A wonderful route in terms of scenery, it offers unequalled views over the majestic Shira plateau. The success rate for this route is comparable to the Machame route.

Rongai Route – 7 Days trek plus 2 nights hotel Prices Prices from $2149

The Rongai route approaches Mount Kilimanjaro from the north east, near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Its main attraction is that it is very quiet and traverses virtually untouched wilderness. Ascent is via the scree path to Gilman’s Point with a traverse round the rim to Uhuru Peak. Descent is along the Marangu route.

Northern Circuit – 9 Days trek plus 2 nights hotel Prices from $2699

The Northern Circuit route is the newest officially approved route up Mount Kilimanjaro, and one of the few ways to see its quieter, more remote northern slope. This is an extended, nine day climb which offers excellent acclimatization time and provides views of the rugged and highly varied countryside on all sides of the great mountain.

Choosing between our recommended best routes

Even when you have eliminated the routes with poor success rates, choosing a route is still probably the hardest decision to make when you are planning to climb Kilimanjaro and that isn’t helped by the fact that there is so much conflicting advice available on the internet. Ultimately the choice of route will be personal and while we don’t pretend to own the vision on this our advice is based on climbing all the routes ourselves. 

Please do remember that when you look at the choice of climbing routes, nearly every person in the world starts with a checklist that the best route to climb Kilimanjaro should be really quiet, that it shouldn’t be too expensive, that it would have a great success rate and offer great scenery. This holy grail of routes sadly does not exist: all the routes with great scenery are busier, as are all the routes with a high success rate, so whichever route you choose it will always be a compromise of these factors.

Bearing that in mind, these are our key recommendations for choosing between the three routes we recommend as the best to climb Kilimanjaro.

• For a really good chance of success, good scenery and a reasonable budget check out the Machame route over 7 days
• For great scenery, a quieter start and a more relaxed daily schedule,  the 8 day Lemosho route is a great choice
• For a quieter route that is ideal in the rainier months of the year then have a look at the Rongai Route

Without complicating these recommendations too much these are some of the other factors you should think about.

What is the experience of your group?  You need to carefully assess the fitness and experience of everyone in your group as a route that would be fine for experienced mountaineers will not be suitable for beginners. Nothing will put a damper on your summit success more effectively than having friends with you who didn’t make it. If you have weaker walkers in your group the 8 day climbs are best.

Are you limited by the number of days you can take? Ideally you need at least 7 days to climb and with travel days this means a 9 day trip. If you haven’t got this time, we would recommend the Machame route but the success rate will be lower

Is your budget a restriction? Partly because of the number of days and partly because of the access issues on some routes there is considerable variation in costs. The 8 day Lemosho and the Rongai routes are more expensive for these reasons.  Don’t though be tempted to reduce the chance of success to save money: the most expensive trip to climb Kilimanjaro is one where you don’t summit and have to descend with altitude sickness.

How challenging do you want to make the climb? For most climbers getting to the summit is a big enough challenge but we do operate Kilimanjaro routes that are even more challenging, like the Crater Camp options. Think carefully about just how tough you want to make your climb.

How important is the scenery? With routes starting from different locations the views and scenery are very different and in the rain shadow to the north of Kilimanjaro the climate is distinctly different.  The most varied scenery is on the South and West of the mountain but this is also the wettest.

What is the motivation for climbing? Of course everyone wants to summit but if you are climbing in a group for charity or doing the climb as a team-building event then reaching the summit should be the highest priority and this should determine your route.

When do you want to do your climb? Because your choice of route is always a compromise between how attractive a route is and how busy it will be the time of year can be a major factor. Even the most popular routes are quiet in the two rainy seasons and the Rongai route is much drier all year round If you are unsure which route to climb Kilimanjaro will be best for you, ring and talk to one of our consultants who have climbed Kilimanjaro themselves.