Everything you need to plan a climb, in the order you’ll need it: routes, timing, fitness, kit and costs.
Read the guide
Our own routes, groups of eight at most, and a 97.6% summit success rate, explained with evidence rather than adjectives.
See why
Every climb we run, with prices from, and the scheduled departures you can join.
See the climbs
Seven support series from Superlite to VIP, and what each one includes.
View prices
Up and down in a day or two if you are already acclimatised, or acclimatise first: permits, plans, maps and a price calculator.
Plan a speed climb
Training, health requirements, visas, vaccinations, insurance and flights: what to sort out, and when.
Start preparing
Height, peaks, temperatures, route lengths, wildlife and records, all checked against our own data.
Read the facts
Every route on one map, from our own GPS tracks, with distances, crowding and acclimatisation compared side by side.
See the map
Steep and direct from the south, leaving little time to acclimatise. 46.3 km round trip.
More about Umbwe
The busiest camping route, climbing from the southern rainforest onto the Shira Plateau before traversing beneath the Southern Icefields. 56.7 km round trip.
More about Machame
The quietest start, from the western forest onto the Shira Plateau. The standard route joins Machame beyond Shira 2; TK Lemosho, our own variation, takes the quiet northern circuit and summits from School Hut. 64.7 or 66.4 km round trip.
More about Lemosho
Starts high on the Shira Plateau, reached by vehicle: only for climbers already acclimatised, for example after Mount Meru. Seven or eight days, or joined to TK Lemosho.
More about Shira
The hut route, and the only one that comes down the way it goes up. It has the lowest success rate of the main routes. 66.9 km round trip.
More about Marangu
From the north, near the Kenyan border. The Rongai most companies run crosses the Saddle to Kibo Hut; TK Rongai, our own, climbs over the Mawenzi ridge and summits from School Hut. 68.0 or 72.2 km round trip.
More about Rongai
4,566 m, above Arusha: the best acclimatisation before Kilimanjaro. Three or four days, sleeping in huts.
More about Mount Meru
Arusha · Kilimanjaro tour operator since 2004
We have run Kilimanjaro climbing tours since 2004, guiding climbers up Africa’s highest mountain on routes of our own design that avoid the crowds, acclimatise you properly and save your strength for the summit.
Join a small group trip or bring your own party; carry your own pack, or sleep in a real bed with cotton sheets. We plan every climb around the climber, with the same guides, care and standards.
Luxury Kilimanjaro tours · Hemingway and VIP Eco
Plenty of operators sell a “VIP” climb. Too often that means a sagging dome tent you can barely stand up in, a low camp bed whose frame bruises your shins, and wet fabric draped across your face as you sleep. Some charge more for it than we do.
Ours is different in kind, not in degree. From years on the mountain and a close knowledge of what every other operator provides, we can say plainly that our Hemingway and VIP Eco climbs are the most luxurious arrangements on Kilimanjaro: luxury Kilimanjaro tours in the true sense.
Our finest: TK Lemosho, a personal porter for your day sack, and luxury hotel suites before and after.
From USD 7,311
A streamlined version of Hemingway, with the same walk-in tents, beds and bedding, and an en-suite bathroom available.
Ask us
Why not a shower? We tried showers in our early years. Nobody used them: water pressure on a mountain is feeble, and standing naked outside your tent while the water cools is nobody’s idea of luxury. The bath is better.
Satisfying VIP clients takes a company that is fastidious about every detail: timings, equipment, food and people. The same office, guides and standards look after every climb we run. That is why more than 60% of our climbers are more than happy on our standard Advantage series.
By around 2007 we had seen enough of the standard routes’ problems: crowding, poor acclimatisation, and climbers exhausted before the hardest night of their lives. So we designed our own. Route and acclimatisation strategy decide most summits, and they are where we put our effort.
The quiet western forest and the Shira Plateau, then the northern circuit instead of the crowded south, with no height lost and re-climbed before the summit.
Kilimanjaro’s quiet northern side, with the climb-high, sleep-low day over the Mawenzi ridge that the conventional Rongai lacks.
A southern start from Machame Gate that joins TK Lemosho at Moir Hut on day three, exactly where TK Lemosho would be.
Compare all of Kilimanjaro’s routes on the map · Which route is best? · Why you are more likely to summit with us
The real question is not whether the summit is within reach. It is which company you can trust to get you there safely and intelligently. Four questions settle it.
In 2006, after rockfall killed three climbers on the Western Breach, the authorities asked our founder, John Rees-Evans, to lead their officials into the hazard zone, find the cause and make formal recommendations. The route was reconfigured on that analysis.
Summits are not luck. They come from altitude, terrain, pacing and an acclimatisation strategy that balances exertion against the reserves you need for summit night. That is what our own routes are for, and why 97.6% of our climbers reach the top, a figure you can check in our live climb reports.
Groups do not acclimatise; individuals do. Our guides watch each climber’s pace, sleep, appetite and breathing, and we offer seven support series. We have supported records by Rebecca Nchereri, Simon Mtuy and Bran Rees-Evans, the youngest person ever to summit, and climbs by paraplegic and quadriplegic athletes.
Competence is necessary but not sufficient. Our Green Porter scheme clears litter other groups leave behind, our ecological research proposal dates from 2006, and we are rooted in the communities around Arusha.
With us, from USD 1,302 to USD 8,639 per person, depending on your route, group size and level of support. Most of our climbers pay USD 2,198 to 3,204: our Advantage series on a six- to eight-day route, for two or more climbers.
That covers everything in Tanzania. Flights, visa, kit and tips are extra: see how much money you need altogether.
All pricesAny day of the year: we climb every month. If it ain’t raining, it ain’t training, as we like to say, but most people would rather not be soaked while trying to enjoy some of the finest views on earth.
To stay reasonably dry, climb in January to February or June to October. Route choice and crowding matter too, which is why we plan the two together.
The best time to climb 👉 · Join a scheduled climb 👉 · Full moon dates 👉
“Hi John, I just got down. Absolutely amazing experience from start to finish. Faraja is an absolute legend. One of the best weeks of my life.”
Andy, solo climber with TK, 2020
“…comes at Kilimanjaro from a whole different angle… Reliable, reasonably priced and delightfully obsessed about the mountain… Overall a great little company and well worth checking out.”
Henry Stedman, author of Kilimanjaro: The Trekking Guide to Africa’s Highest Mountain
The questions we are asked most, answered briefly, with a link to the full story. For the whole journey from first idea to summit day, see how to climb Kilimanjaro in 11 steps or our complete 2026 guide.
Five to eight days, depending on the route. We recommend seven or eight.
The park sets a minimum length for each route, including the descent: Marangu and Rongai 5 days, Machame and Umbwe 6 days, Lemosho 7 days.
We recommend spending seven to eight days going up and down, unless you have already acclimatised on another high trek in the three weeks before your climb. The extra days are what let your body adjust, and they are the cheapest way to improve your chance of reaching the top.
From 42.1 km to 72.2 km, gate to gate, depending on the route.
Measured from our own GPS tracks, for the whole round trip including the descent:
Our guides add acclimatisation walks along the way, so you will walk a little further than this. See every route on the map 👉
Allow around USD 3,700 or more once flights, kit, visa and tips are added to the climb.
Our climb prices cover everything in Tanzania from the airport onwards. On top of that, plan for:
It is an investment, of course. It is also one our climbers tell us, again and again, they would not have given up for anything. The full cost guide 👉
Yes: carry your own kit on our Superlite series, or climb with our sister budget operation.
When John, our founder, first climbed Kilimanjaro on 27 March 2000, he paid USD 45 in park fees, took no porters and went from Marangu Gate to the summit in a single day. Team Kilimanjaro began on a shoestring, so we have every sympathy with climbers who need to make a little go a long way.
No. A licensed guide and a Tanzanian-registered operator are compulsory.
The park requires every climb to be registered through a Tanzanian-owned company holding a mountain climbing licence, and every climber to be accompanied by a guide with a current guiding licence.
For self-sufficient mountaineers that can be a disappointment, which is why we designed our Superlite series: the closest you can legally come to climbing on your own.
Yes. Despite what many operators say, porters are not a legal requirement.
If you are willing to carry your own equipment, the rules require only a guide, plus assistant guides for larger groups so that nobody is ever left unaccompanied if the party splits. That is exactly how our Superlite series works.
Fitter is better, but you do not need to be an athlete.
We have helped many people to the summit who would admit they were in poor shape and never found time to train. We still ask you to train, mainly because a fit climber enjoys the mountain far more and stays alert to its beauty instead of just surviving it.
Start training about three months before you fly, and check our minimum health requirements 👉
Many climbers, professional athletes among them, tell us summit night was the hardest thing they have ever done.
Altitude is a great leveller. Fitness helps, and the greatest advantage you can give yourself is to lose any unneeded weight before you fly, but the last 500 vertical metres to the summit are hard for everyone and should never be underestimated.
Five steps: book, buy your kit, train, book flights and get your visa.
One accurate map has been made, and we helped to make it.
You will not need to navigate, but expedition people like to know where they are. The one accurate map of Kilimanjaro was drawn by two Swiss cartographers, Sasha and Sandra, who stayed with us in 2007. We guided them on seldom-visited trails and shared our GPS data. It has 2 km grid squares and 50 m contours; the only flaws we know of are a misprinted altitude for Big Tree Camp and Pofu Camp being left off.
Henry Stedman’s, which we keep a copy of in our office.
You will have a guide who knows every rock on the mountain, so a book is not essential. For reading before you go, the best is Henry Stedman’s Kilimanjaro: The Trekking Guide to Africa’s Highest Mountain. We do not agree with all of it, and it covers only the standard routes, but it is carefully researched, light-hearted and easy to read.
Yes, for a cause of your own or one of the two we support in Arusha.
We support an orphanage and a school in Arusha, where we are based, and money raised for them goes further than almost anywhere we can think of. If you already have a cause in mind, we have a scheme for that too.
We are an Arusha-based Kilimanjaro tour operator, running climbs since 30 June 2004. Our founder, John Rees-Evans, first summited in 2000, and in 2026 made the first complete ascent from the mountain’s true base at 777 m. Rebecca Nchereri, a founder of the company, made the first women’s speed ascent in 2005.
The park authority has called on us for work on mountain safety and route development, and we have supported record attempts from the youngest summit to wheelchair ascents. Around 14,000 climbers have reached the top with us.
More about Team Kilimanjaro 👉 · How we think about altitude 👉
Kilimanjaro stands entirely within Tanzania, about three degrees south of the equator. It is Africa’s highest point and rises on its own from the plains around it, which is why it is called the world’s highest free-standing mountain.
The nearest airport is Kilimanjaro International (JRO), 47 km from central Arusha. Booking sites now often label it “Arusha”, but that is a different airport (ARK). Snow is possible all year from about 4,600 m.
Tell us your dates, your group and the kind of climb you have in mind, and we will plan it with you: route, length and level of support.
