Kilimanjaro routes compared: which way up?
The short answer
There are six main ways up Kilimanjaro, plus the Shira route and the Mweka route, which is used only to come down. They all reach the same summit, Uhuru Peak at 5,895 m (19,341 ft). What differs is how many days they take, which side of the mountain they climb, how crowded they are, and above all how much time they give your body to get used to the altitude. Machame and Marangu are the two most popular. Lemosho and the Northern Circuit take longer and are quieter. Marangu is the only one with huts instead of tents, and Umbwe is the shortest and steepest.
If you only remember one thing: on Kilimanjaro, more days is not more walking. It is more time to acclimatise, and that is what decides whether people reach the top.
The routes at a glance
| Route | Typical days | Sleeping | Distance, per Wikipedia | Distance, per a tour operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machame | 6 or 7 | Tents | 49 km (30 miles) | 62 km (38.5 miles) |
| Lemosho | 7 or 8 | Tents | 56 km (35 miles) | 70 km (43.5 miles) |
| Northern Circuit | 9 | Tents | 90 km (56 miles) | 98 km (61 miles) |
| Marangu | 5 or 6 | Huts | 64 km (40 miles) | 72 km (45 miles) |
| Rongai | 5 or 6 | Tents | 65 km (40 miles) | 73 km (45 miles) |
| Umbwe | 5 or 6 | Tents | 37 km (23 miles) | 53 km (33 miles) |
Why two distances? Because sources measure the routes differently, and the gap is large. The first column comes from Wikipedia’s summary of the official routes, the second from Follow Alice, a tour operator that publishes a distance for every route. The operator’s figures run 8 to 16 km longer, and our own Machame route page also works with about 62 km gate to gate. reTrek measures 58.5 km along its own line for Machame. Read any single distance as approximate.
How high do the routes go?
Every route ends at the same place: Uhuru Peak, 5,895 m (19,341 ft), the highest point in Africa. What changes is where you start, and where you sleep before the summit night.
- Machame starts at about 1,640 m (5,380 ft), according to Follow Alice, so the climb to the summit is about 4,250 m (13,900 ft). Climbers sleep the last night at Barafu Camp, about 4,670 m (15,320 ft), and leave for the top around midnight.
- Lemosho starts higher, at about 2,100 m (6,890 ft), according to the same operator, a climb of about 3,800 m (12,500 ft), and also goes to the summit from Barafu.
- Marangu climbers spend the last night at Kibo Hut, at 4,730 m (15,520 ft), according to Wikipedia.
The sources we checked do not publish start altitudes for the other routes consistently, so we have left them out rather than guess.
The routes, one by one
Machame
One of the two most popular routes on Kilimanjaro, with Marangu. It climbs from Machame Gate on the south-west through rainforest, crosses the Shira plateau, then traverses the southern flank under the glaciers to Barafu Camp for the summit night, and comes down by the Mweka route. Six days is the fast version, seven gives an extra day to acclimatise. Our Machame route page has the day-by-day climb and altitudes.
Lemosho
The longer, quieter alternative. After a long drive to a remote gate, Lemosho climbs through forest and traverses to Barafu Camp for the summit night, as Machame does. Seven or eight days, camping all the way. The extra time on the mountain is the reason it is widely chosen for acclimatisation, and the remote start is the reason it is less crowded for its first days.
Northern Circuit
The newest route and the longest, about nine days. It traverses nearly the whole mountain, including the quiet north side that the other routes do not see. Very low traffic, because few people have nine days to spend on the mountain, and the most time of any route to acclimatise.
Marangu
The only route with huts, “comfortable but basic”, instead of tents, and gentle gradients for long stretches. Wikipedia calls it “the easiest ascent of Kilimanjaro”, and it is very popular, so often crowded. The catch is the short schedule: five or six days give the body less time to adjust, and Marangu is reported to have the lowest summit success rate of any route.
Rongai
Remote and less frequented, after a long drive to its start, with camping all the way. Five or six days in its standard form, and a gradual climb that is described as good for acclimatisation.
Umbwe
The shortest and steepest way up. Five or six days, and “very physically taxing”, in Wikipedia’s words. It suits experienced trekkers, and gives the least time of any route to acclimatise.
Summit success rates, and how far to trust them
There are no up-to-date official figures. Park data from the early 2000s put the average success rate at about 65%, and current estimates across all routes are 70 to 80%. Per-route figures come from tour operators. As one example, here is what one operator, Xpats International, reports:
| Route | Days | Reported success rate |
|---|---|---|
| Lemosho | 8 | 98% |
| Lemosho | 7 | 96% |
| Northern Circuit | 9 | 92% |
| Machame | 7 | 88-92% |
| Machame | 6 | 88% |
| Rongai | 7 | 80% |
| Umbwe | 6 | 60% |
| Marangu | 6 | 56% |
| Marangu | 5 | 42% |
Treat these numbers carefully. They are reported by an operator that sells these climbs, they are not checked by anyone independent, and they may be partly marketing. The same operator notes that figures from individual operators range from 65% to 98.9%, and our own Machame page quotes lower figures from other sources. What all of them agree on is the pattern, not the numbers: longer routes and extra days come out on top, and the short five- and six-day schedules come out at the bottom.
How long does it take to climb Kilimanjaro?
Between five and nine days, depending on the route. The walking distance is short for that much time, because the days are short on purpose. The rule guides follow is the one in medical guidance on altitude illness: above about 3,000 m (9,800 ft), gain no more than about 500 m (1,600 ft) of sleeping altitude a day, and take a rest day every few days. Every route that adds a day is adding acclimatisation, which is why the longer schedules come out on top in the success figures above, and why the five-day schedules are the hardest on the body.
Machame, walked at home
reTrek’s Kilimanjaro is the Machame route, from Machame Gate over Uhuru Peak and down to Mweka Gate, the 58.5 km reTrek measures. Your daily steps carry you up it, with a short film about the mountain waiting at each milestone, from the rainforest to the crater rim. It cannot help you with the altitude, which only time on the real mountain can. What it can do is turn a season of ordinary walks into the whole climb, camp by camp. See the Machame route in reTrek.