EVERY ROUTE,
RANKED BY THE
ONE NUMBER
THAT MATTERS

CAMPS Mti Mkubwa 2,780 → Shira 1 3,505 → Shira 2 3,900 → Moir Hut 4,200 → Buffalo Camp 4,020 → Third Cave 3,800 → School Hut 4,750 THEN UHURU 5,895

The Northern Circuit shares the Lemosho trailhead, then swings right around the quiet northern slopes instead of cutting across the south. That detour buys you two extra nights above 3,500 m and a genuine 'climb high, sleep low' saw-tooth between Moir Hut and Buffalo Camp. It is the longest route, the most expensive in park fees, and the one you are least likely to share with anyone. The trade-off is real: nine days of walking is a lot of walking, and the northern side is drier and less lush than the south. You will not see the giant groundsels that make Lemosho photograph so well.

CAMPS Mti Mkubwa 2,780 → Shira 1 3,505 → Shira 2 3,900 → Barranco 3,960 → Karanga 3,995 → Barafu 4,673 THEN UHURU 5,895

Lemosho starts on the western side with a vehicle transfer to around 3,400 m, crosses the Shira Plateau, then joins the southern circuit at Barranco. The 8-day version adds a night at Shira 1 that the 7-day version skips, and that single night is the whole difference between the two. It is genuinely scenic — the Shira Plateau and the giant groundsels are the images that sell Kilimanjaro — and it has a sensible profile. What has changed is the crowd. A decade ago Lemosho was the insider pick; it is now the second-busiest route on the mountain and the camps from Barranco onward are shared with everyone coming up Machame and Umbwe.

CAMPS Mti Mkubwa 2,785 → Shira 2 3,900 → Barranco 3,960 → Karanga 3,995 → Barafu 4,673 THEN UHURU 5,895

The 7-day Lemosho drops the Shira 1 night, so you go from the 2,785 m first camp straight to 3,900 m. Operators often present 7-day and 8-day Lemosho as near-equivalent choices differing mainly in price. Physiologically they are not equivalent: you lose a night above 3,000 m, and nights above 3,000 m is the variable that predicts summit success better than anything else you control. If the price gap is a few hundred dollars and your schedule allows, the extra night is the highest-value money you will spend on the whole trip.

CAMPS Machame 2,835 → Shira 3,750 → Barranco 3,960 → Karanga 3,995 → Barafu 4,673 THEN UHURU 5,895

Machame — the 'Whiskey route', so nicknamed because it was the tougher counterpart to Marangu's 'Coca-Cola' — is the single most-walked path up Kilimanjaro. You start in dense rainforest at 1,800 m and walk up rather than driving to altitude, which some people prefer and which makes the first day genuinely hard work. From Shira onward the profile is good, including the Lava Tower day at around 4,600 m before dropping back to Barranco at 3,960 m: the textbook climb-high-sleep-low move. The 7-day version, with the Karanga night, is a legitimately strong itinerary at a lower price than Lemosho. The 6-day version cuts Karanga and is a different, harder proposition.

CAMPS Simba 2,625 → Kikelewa 3,600 → Mawenzi Tarn 4,330 → Mawenzi Tarn 4,330 → School Hut 4,750 THEN UHURU 5,895

Rongai is the only approach from the north, close to the Kenyan border, and it is the answer to two different problems at once. The northern slopes sit in Kilimanjaro's rain shadow and get substantially less precipitation, which makes Rongai the sensible choice in the shoulder and rainy seasons when the southern routes are wet. And with roughly a tenth of Machame's traffic, it is the only well-acclimatising route where you will not queue. The two nights at Mawenzi Tarn at 4,330 m give a strong profile, and Rongai avoids the Barranco Wall entirely. The cost is scenery: the north is drier, sparser, and lacks the dramatic vegetation of the southern and western approaches. You also descend via Marangu, so you see the mountain from two sides.

CAMPS Machame 2,835 → Shira 3,750 → Barranco 3,960 → Barafu 4,673 THEN UHURU 5,895

The 6-day Machame removes the Karanga night, which means you go from Barranco at 3,960 m to Barafu at 4,673 m in one push and then start summit night a few hours later. It is cheaper because it is shorter, and it is widely advertised to people who have no way of evaluating what they are giving up. This is the itinerary that most often turns a holiday into a story about not making it. If your budget only reaches a 6-day climb, the honest advice is to save for another six months rather than buy worse odds.

CAMPS Umbwe Cave 2,940 → Barranco 3,960 → Karanga 3,995 → Barafu 4,673 THEN UHURU 5,895

Umbwe goes almost straight up the southern face. The first two days average around a 21.5% incline against roughly 17% on Machame, which does not sound like much until you are doing it with a full day pack in humid forest. In exchange you get near-total solitude for the first two days — 66 recorded hikers across nine months, against Machame's sixteen thousand. The route joins the southern circuit at Barranco and is identical from there. Some operators now offer a 7-day Umbwe with two nights at Barranco, which converts it into something a fit beginner could reasonably attempt. The 6-day version is not that.

CAMPS Mandara 2,700 → Horombo 3,720 → Horombo 3,720 → Kibo 4,700 THEN UHURU 5,895

Marangu is the old trade route and the only one with dormitory huts rather than tents — solar lighting, bunk beds, a dining hall, and no need to sleep on the ground. That is a genuine draw for some people, and in the rainy season the roof is worth something. The problems are structural. Marangu ascends and descends by the same path, so the scenery repeats and you meet descending groups all the way up. The 6-day version with the extra Horombo night is acceptable; the 5-day version is the weakest itinerary sold on the mountain, and it is the one that dragged the official all-route success average down to 45%. Marangu is also the route where the summit push goes via Gilman's Point, which adds a further hour along the rim to Uhuru — and where a lot of people stop at Gilman's and call it done.

CAMPS Mandara 2,700 → Horombo 3,720 → Kibo 4,700 THEN UHURU 5,895

Five days means two nights above 3,000 m before you attempt a 1,200 m ascent in the dark. The 2006 park authority figures put 5-day success at 27% — barely one climber in four. Nothing about human physiology has changed since. It remains on sale because it is the cheapest number an operator can put in an advertisement, and because a certain number of buyers will compare a $1,400 climb with a $2,400 climb and see only the price. This is the itinerary this entire page exists to talk you out of.