kilimanjaro Routes

What takes you up the summit of the top of the world in Tanzania are the Kilimanjaro Routes, who accompany you along with the dedicated guides and porters to help you achieve your incredible dreams. You will learn so much from these gorgeous Kilimanjaro Walking Routes, who have hosted thousands of travelers up the summit. They are stunning, soothing, and noteworthy.

The Kilimanjaro Hiking Routes are of 7 varieties, the most popular of them being:

The two other Kilimanjaro Trekking Routes are:

Kilimanjaro Climbing Routes

Kilimanjaro Climbing Routes that are approachable any time. Researching Kilimanjaro is not an easy task. Making the right choice when it comes to the Kilimanjaro Routes is an important bit towards a successful summit. We at Jerry Tanzania Tours want to give you as much information as possible to help you make this choice.

Among the 7 Kilimanjaro routes, all routes have their pros and cons, some people may agree or disagree but it comes down to your personal choice to choose a route for climbing. For you to figure out which is the best, ask yourself these questions:

How Many Days do you have?

You can start Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro anywhere between, 5-9 days, most people go for maybe 7 or 8 days. Remember though that these are the days that you are hiking the mountain. So you need one more day for arrival, and one more after departure. 

So if you choose the 7 – Day route, it means you guys have like nine days for that.

When do you want to climb?

You can start Kilimanjaro Climb all year round, there are two wet seasons though, and there is a long and a short period. The long is from March to May, and the short one is just November.

What is your Budget?

You can climb Kilimanjaro from $1500 - $2000 on a six days budget. It goes all the way to four, five and even six thousand dollars, on a longer luxurious climb. Most clients set around $2500 for a seven-day value for money climb.

What do you want to get out of this?

What do you want to get out of this climb? Are you there for the beautiful scenery? Do you prefer a less crowded Kilimanjaro Hike or are you there just for the mental and physical challenge?

Kilimanjaro Routes Explained (The 5 Best Kilimanjaro Routes)

Let us understand the brief overview of the 5 routes:

• Only one route that approaches the mountain from the north, is the Rongai Route.
• One route from the east which is the Marangu Route, all the five approach the mountain from the west or southwest.
• This includes Lemosho Route, Machame Route, and also the northern circuit route.
• Four out of these five use southern track routes, so that means they all start at different points, but they all meet at Barranco Camp and circle the mountain on the south side to the summit.
• The fifth route is the only one, and the newest route that uses the northern slopes, of the mountain. That’s why it’s also called the Northern Circuit Route.

Kilimanjaro Routes Success Rates

The following is the detailed list of the Kilimanjaro Routes Success Rates:

From the above table the following conclusion can be drawn:

• Lemosho Route has the highest Kilimanjaro Success Rate on the mountain. With the 7 – Days Kilimanjaro Route providing over 100% success rate for both males and females, the highest success rate on this package is recorded for the age group of 15-30 years of age.
• Among these trekkers, over 50% of the climbers used Diamox while the age group of 46 – 60 also had a 100% success rate.
• Some other trek packages that offered 100% success rates are – Machame 6 –Days climb, Rongai 6 – Days climb, Rongai 7 Days Climb and Umbwe 7 Days climb.
• Among these statistics, the age group from 15 – 30 achieved the highest success rate.
• The highest number of people to use Diamox was on the Umbwe Route with over 100% of the climbers using this medication to reduce Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS).
• Among the data presentation, the lowest Kilimanjaro Success Rate is offered on the Marangu 5 Days climb. Which is the lowest success rate compared to all other treks – 67%. The cause of this is having less time to acclimatize on the mountain due to a shorter itinerary.

Kilimanjaro Routes Map

Why do you think understanding the Kilimanjaro Route Map is so essential? To identify the Best Route To Climb Kilimanjaro, understanding the map of various Kilimanjaro Routes approaching the mountain is essential. Let’s have a look at the following map:

What do you observe?

• The Rongai Route approaches from the Nalemoru gate from the Northern side of the mountain. It passes through the Simba Camp, the second cave Camp, Kikelewa Camp, etc. to reach the peak and descents in almost the same path.
• The Marangu route approaches the mountain from the southern side, and offers camping at – Mandara Huts, Horombo Huts, Kibo Camp Hut, etc.
• Lemosho Route approaches the mountain from the Lemosho Route Gate, and offers camping at – Shira Camp 1, New Shira Camp, and Lava Tower Camp.
• Machame, Shira, and Umbwe are all Kilimanjaro western approach routes. Among these Machame is the most popular, Shira is the older version of Lemosho Route and Umbwe is the steepest route.
• Another important route is the Northern Circuit route, which approaches the mountain from the west but circles the mountain and hikes from the north. This route provides the longest itinerary and the highest success rate.

Kilimanjaro Routes Comparison (With Kilimanjaro Routes Distance)

To help you understand and choose the right Kilimanjaro route, we have provided you with the following Kilimanjaro Route comparison based on the Kilimanjaro Routes Distance as follow:

The best route to Climb Kilimanjaro

As per Jerry Tanzania Tours, the Best Route to Climb Kilimanjaro is the Lemosho route as it is the most beautiful and scenic route on Mount Kilimanjaro. This route also provides a high Kilimanjaro Success Rate as well due to the longer itinerary of 7-8 Days on the mountain.

Apart from the Lemosho route other Kilimanjaro routes such as the Machame, Lemosho, Northern Circuit, and Rongai Routes are also considered to provide a high success rate of up to 97% on the mountain. These routes are scenic as well. The Best Kilimanjaro Route for any climber is the one that helps you acclimatize well and reach the summit successfully.

Kilimanjaro Routes Difficulty

The Kilimanjaro Routes Difficulty level is considered to be highest on the Umbwe Route. This is the steepest route approaching the mountain. This route is also considered the most demanding yet most spectacular Kilimanjaro Route on the mountain. This route is chosen by the experienced climbers only.

Have a look at the difficulty level of each of the Kilimanjaro routes:

From the above image, the following can be deciphered:

• The Umbwe Route is the most difficult route up the mountain.
• The routes with moderate difficulty levels are the Marangu route, Rongai route, and Northern Circuit route
• While Shira Route, Machame route, and Lemosho route are equally challenging.
• The highest scenic views are offered on the Machame and Lemosho routes while other routes are moderately scenic, the least scenic route is the Marangu route.

Kilimanjaro Routes Cost

The Kilimanjaro Routes Cost are the major part of the Kilimanjaro Climb Cost some of which are mentioned below:

The most popular of the Kilimanjaro Route Packages are 8 Days Lemosho route and 7 Days Machame route. The cost of these packages that we provide are all less than $2000 for mid-range to luxury climbs on the mountain.

Kilimanjaro Route Duration of Climb

The Kilimanjaro Route Duration of the climb are mentioned below with estimated tourist traffic, difficulty level, and the number of days it takes for a climber to complete the climb:

As you can observe from the above Mount Kilimanjaro Routes the maximum time is taken by the Northern Circuit Route to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The shortest itinerary is provided by the Marangu route while all other Kilimanjaro Routes take about 7 to 8 days on the mountain.

Want to know more about the Kilimanjaro Routes?

To know the essential details of the Kilimanjaro climb like the Best Time To Climb Kilimanjaro or the Kilimanjaro Climb Cost, you can speak to our travel experts directly and get a clear and overall view of the Best Route To Climb Kilimanjaro as well along with all necessary information about Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

About 90% of the climbers face Kilimanjaro Altitude Sickness, and our Kilimanjaro Guides can help you avoid it on the mountain. Speaking to our travel experts beforehand also helps you take the right Vaccinations for Kilimanjaro before entering the country as well.

The following pages take each of the routes, individually, and go through a day-by-day description of them. So if you want an authentic, first-hand account of the routes – read on!