Kilimanjaro Routes Compared

Marangu is the only route with huts and the shortest itinerary, usually five or six days. It is also the route with the lowest summit rate for that reason. Machame, the "Whiskey route", climbs through rainforest and heath to the Shira Plateau, then traverses under the southern icefields via the Lava Tower and the Barranco Wall: seven days is the version we run. Lemosho starts further west, adds a quiet first two days in the forest and joins Machame at Shira; eight days is ideal. Rongai approaches from the drier north near the Kenyan border, and the Northern Circuit is the longest of all, nine days around the quiet northern slopes with excellent acclimatisation.