6 days
The Nayara Classic
Tarangire's elephants, the Ngorongoro Crater floor and two full days in the central Serengeti. If you have one week and one shot at…
$2,780per person, from
ViewSize
1,688 km²
Established
1973 · UNESCO World Heritage Site
Getting there
1 hour from Moshi, 2 hours from Arusha
Known for
Colobus and blue monkey, bushbuck, elephant and buffalo on the northern slopes, Abbot's starling
The place
Kilimanjaro National Park
Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world and the highest point in Africa: 5,895 metres at Uhuru Peak, on the rim of the Kibo crater. You walk up through five distinct ecological zones in under a week — cultivated southern slopes, rainforest, heather and moorland, alpine desert, and finally the arctic summit zone where the glaciers are retreating year on year. No technical climbing is involved anywhere on the standard routes. The difficulty is altitude, and altitude alone.
Why go
What makes it worth the days
Uhuru Peak
Africa's highest point, reached on foot by anyone with reasonable fitness and the right number of days.
Five climate zones in five days
From banana and coffee gardens to permanent ice, over about forty horizontal kilometres.
The glaciers, while they last
The Furtwängler and Rebmann ice fields have lost most of their twentieth-century extent and continue to retreat.
Rainforest on the lower slopes
Colobus monkeys, turacos and tree ferns on the first day of every southern route.
The ground
Areas and how they differ
Where you sleep inside a park matters more than most people realise. These are the distinct areas and what each is good for.
Where to stay
Huts on Marangu; tents on every other route, carried and pitched by your crew. Two nights in a Moshi or Arusha hotel before and after are included on all our climbs.
The busiest side: Marangu, Machame and Umbwe start here, in thick rainforest.
A high western caldera floor at 3,800m, crossed by the Lemosho and Northern Circuit routes.
Giant groundsels, the Barranco Wall scramble and the traverse to Barafu.
The summit rim, the ash pit and what remains of the northern ice field.
Drier, quieter, and the only side where elephant sign still turns up on the trail.
When to visit
Kilimanjaro through the year
Four to six days of safari before the climb, or a Zanzibar week afterwards — which is what most people wish they had booked.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Prime time
Good, fewer vehicles
Green season · lowest rates
Gallery
Kilimanjaro in pictures
Trips that include it
Itineraries visiting Kilimanjaro
6 days
4 days
Northern Circuit in Four Days
The shortest route that still does the northern circuit justice: Manyara's forest, Tarangire's elephants and a full morning on the…
$1,340per person, from
View
10 days
Plains & Islands Honeymoon
Five nights of safari with a balloon flight and a private bush dinner, then four nights on the north-east coast of Zanzibar. The…
$6,450per person, from
ViewKeep exploring
Nearby destinations
The endless plains
Serengeti
14,763 km² of grass, granite kopjes and the greatest terrestrial mammal migration on earth.
The crater
Ngorongoro
The world's largest intact volcanic caldera, holding around 25,000 large animals on a 260 km² floor.
Elephants and baobabs
Tarangire
2,850 km² of baobab country holding the densest dry-season elephant population in northern Tanzania.
Go there
See Kilimanjaro for yourself
Tell us how long you have and we will show you how Kilimanjaro fits into a route that works — and how many nights it really deserves.