Which Route Should I use to climb kilimanjaro

There are seven established routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro – Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, Northern Circuit and Umbwe. The Marangu, Machame, and Umbwe routes all approach from the south of the mountain (Mweka is used only for descent). The Lemosho, Shira and Northern Circuit routes approach from the west. The Rongai route approaches from the north. The illustrations below depict a three-dimensional view of Kilimanjaro’s climbing routes and a close up of the approaches to the summit.

Selecting a route is a tough choice for most. To find the best Kilimanjaro route for you, considerations should be taken for the route’s scenery, difficulty, foot traffic and its altitude acclimatization characteristics, as depicted in the table below. Trust Tours has assigned overall ratings to each route. Kilimanjaro Route Min. Days Rec. Days Difficulty Scenery Traffic Rating Northern Circuit 9 9 high excellent very low

Lemosho Route 7,10 a high excellent medium

Rongai Route 6 7 medium very good low

Machame Route 6 7 high excellent high

Shira Route 7 9 high excellent medium

Marangu Route 5 6 medium good high

Umbwe Route 5 7 very high very good very low