The longest route, a full sweep around the quiet northern slopes.
The Northern Circuit is Lemosho with a big detour: instead of heading straight for the south, you swing round the north of the mountain. It takes the most days, and it is the quietest and slowest way up.
Days
8 or 9 on the mountain
Sleeping
Tents
Starts
Londorossi Gate, west
Finishes
Mweka Gate
Highest sleep
Barafu or Kibo side, about 4,600 to 4,700 m
Crowds
Very quiet
What the Northern Circuit is
Like Lemosho, it begins at Londorossi Gate and crosses the Shira plateau. At that point it leaves the southern trail and walks around the northern flank, past Moir hut and Buffalo camp and over to the eastern side, before joining the summit approach. The descent is on the southern side.
The route is the longest on Kilimanjaro, and it is the least crowded, since few people have the time or the budget for it. You see the mountain from almost every side, which is the main reason to pick it.
Northern Circuit route itinerary, day by day
The first two or three days are the same as Lemosho: the drive, the forest, the Shira plateau. After that the route turns north. You spend several days on high, empty trail, where the other groups you see are few. Camps include Moir and Buffalo, and later the Third Cave area, with views over the Kenyan plains.
The days are not long, and none is brutal. The route's strength is the slow climb: you reach the summit camp after a week of living between 3,500 and 4,200 m.
Summit night is still summit night. It starts around midnight and is long, cold and steep. What changes is that the people doing it arrive well adapted.
8-day Northern Circuit route schedule
A tighter version that combines the Shira stages into one longer day.
Day 13 to 4 h
Londorossi Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp
2,750 m · montane rainforest
Day 25 to 6 h
Mti Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp
3,500 m · montane rainforest to heath and moorland
Day 36 to 7 h
Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut
4,200 m · heath and moorland to alpine desert
Day 45 to 6 h
Moir Hut to Buffalo Camp
4,000 m · alpine desert
Day 55 to 6 h
Buffalo Camp to Third Cave
3,870 m · alpine desert to heath and moorland
Day 63 to 4 h
Third Cave to School Hut
4,750 m · heath and moorland to alpine desert
Day 712 to 15 h
School Hut to Mweka Camp
3,100 m · alpine desert to arctic summit zone to heath and moorland
Day 83 to 4 h
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
1,640 m · heath and moorland to farmland and forest edge
9-day Northern Circuit route schedule
The standard nine-day circuit, with a night at Shira 2 to adjust before the northern traverse.
Day 13 to 4 h
Londorossi Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp
2,750 m · montane rainforest
Day 25 to 6 h
Mti Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp
3,500 m · montane rainforest to heath and moorland
Day 33 to 4 h
Shira 1 Camp to Shira 2 Camp
3,900 m · heath and moorland
Day 45 to 6 h
Shira 2 Camp to Moir Hut
4,200 m · heath and moorland to alpine desert
Day 55 to 6 h
Moir Hut to Buffalo Camp
4,000 m · alpine desert
Day 65 to 6 h
Buffalo Camp to Third Cave
3,870 m · alpine desert to heath and moorland
Day 73 to 4 h
Third Cave to School Hut
4,750 m · heath and moorland to alpine desert
Day 812 to 15 h
School Hut to Mweka Camp
3,100 m · alpine desert to arctic summit zone to heath and moorland
Day 93 to 4 h
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
1,640 m · heath and moorland to farmland and forest edge
Altitudes and walking times are rounded and vary with season and group. The package you book sets the exact schedule.
What you pay depends on the number of days, the group size and the comfort level. The packages below show their own starting price per person from our live price list, and the cost page explains what moves it. Park fees are a large fixed part of any climb, which is why the cheapest quote is not always the best value.
Who it suits
Climbers with nine days to spare who want the best odds and the quietest trail. People who have been to altitude before and want something less crowded. Photographers.
It is a poor fit if you are short of days or want a social, busy trail. See Lemosho or Machame for those.
Best time to climb the Northern Circuit route
Best in the dry windows. The northern side is drier than the south, which helps in the shoulder months. See best time to climb.
Questions people ask
If you have them, yes: the slower profile helps with altitude and the trail is quiet. If you do not, a seven day Lemosho is the better use of limited time.
Eight or nine on the mountain. Nine is more relaxed.
No, each day is moderate. The challenge is mainly the summit night, the same as other routes.
Climbers who write trip reports often say the eighth day made summit night feel more manageable, because you spend an extra night near 4,000 m. If you are nervous about altitude, are older, or have spare days, take the eight. If you are fit, have recent altitude experience and are short of time, seven works.
Many people reach the top in their forties, fifties and sixties, and plenty are not athletes. What decides it is time and preparation, not youth: choose a long route (seven or eight days), train with hills and long loaded walks for at least two or three months, and walk slowly on the mountain. If you have a heart, lung or blood-pressure condition, see your doctor before you book.
Ask for the company's Tanzanian business licence and TATO membership, check them on the official register, and read recent reviews on more than one site. Ask how many people are in the crew and how porters are paid and equipped. A fair operator answers these quickly and writes the answers down.
You cannot walk the mountain without a licensed guide, but you can book as one person and still have a full crew. Whether you join a group depends on whether other climbers are going on your dates; ask us and we confirm before you pay. See group climbs.
Yes. Choose a policy that explicitly covers trekking to 6,000 m and emergency evacuation. Standard holiday cover often stops at a lower altitude. Read the exclusions before you buy and carry the policy number with you.
Facts on this page were checked against these sources and written up in our own words. Camp heights and times differ between sources by up to about 100 m and an hour; we give rounded figures.
