The longest route on Kilimanjaro. It starts as Lemosho, then swings right round the quiet northern slopes before summiting from the east.
The Northern Circuit is the newest route on Kilimanjaro and the longest. It starts as Lemosho, on the western side at Londorossi, and follows that path through the forest and across the Shira Plateau.
Then it turns. Instead of heading south-east to Lava Tower and Barranco with everybody else, it swings north and works its way right round the far side of the mountain, camping on slopes that no other route touches.
It rejoins the main paths near School Hut on the eastern side and summits from there, then drops down the southern side by Mweka.
The whole walk is about 98 km over nine days. Nothing else on Kilimanjaro takes that long or shows you that much of it. You circle the mountain instead of climbing one face of it, and you sleep high for a week doing so.
Day for day, the Northern Circuit is the easiest walking on the mountain, because nine days spread the same climb over more of them. Most days run four to six hours on moderate ground.
There is no scrambling. The Barranco Wall sits on the southern path, and this route leaves that path before it reaches the wall.
The difficulty is time and cost. Nine days is a long trip, and nine days of park fees makes it the most expensive way up Kilimanjaro.
The northern slopes are exposed. There is little shelter on that side and the wind comes straight across open ground at around 4,000 m.
And summit night is still summit night. From School Hut it is 931 m to Gilman's Point in the dark, then the rim walk to Uhuru. No amount of acclimatisation makes that easy. It makes it more likely to end on the top.
It has the longest acclimatisation profile on Kilimanjaro. Nine days, most of them above 3,000 m, and a slow spiral round the mountain that keeps you high without pushing you higher too fast. Its summit rates are the best of any route.
It is the quietest. The northern slopes take a fraction of the traffic on the southern paths, and there are days on the circuit when you meet nobody at all.
It shows you the whole mountain. You walk the west, the north and the east, and come down the south. No other route comes close to that.
And the views north are unlike anything else on the climb. From Buffalo Camp the ground falls away to the plains and, on a clear day, across into Kenya.
Cost. Park fees are charged per climber per day by the park authority and are the same for every operator, so nine days is simply the most expensive climb on this mountain.
Time. Nine days on the mountain plus travel and a rest day makes a two-week trip before any safari is added to it.
Camping every night, some of it at 4,200 m in exposed places where the wind does not stop.
And a long walk with few set pieces in the middle of it. The northern traverse is beautiful and it is repetitive, and climbers who want a new view every morning sometimes find those days long.
There is also less hire gear and fewer scheduled departures on this route than on Machame, simply because fewer people walk it.
We run this route over nine days, camping the whole way, starting from Londorossi on the western side.
The first three days are the Lemosho approach: the western forest, then two days crossing the Shira Plateau. On the fourth day you climb to Lava Tower at 4,630 m for lunch and drop to Moir Hut at about 4,200 m to sleep, which is the climb-high-sleep-low day that does most of the acclimatisation work.
At Moir Hut the routes part. Everyone else turns south for Barranco. You turn north, and spend three days working round the back of Kibo through Buffalo Camp and Third Cave to School Hut at 4,750 m.
Summit night goes up to Gilman's Point and round the rim to Uhuru Peak, and the descent drops south to Millennium Camp and out by Mweka the next morning.
The climb is quoted on request, because group size and season both change what it costs. Send us your dates and how many of you there are.
The two routes share their first three days, so the honest comparison starts after the Shira Plateau.
Lemosho turns south-east at Shira 2 and joins the Machame path. Eight days, one climb-high-sleep-low day at Lava Tower, the Barranco Wall, and the summit from Barafu by Stella Point.
The Northern Circuit turns north instead. Nine days, no wall, a week of walking at around 4,000 m, and the summit from School Hut by Gilman's Point.
The circuit acclimatises you better, because it holds you high for longer. It is also a day longer, costs a day more in park fees, and trades the Barranco Wall and the Lava Tower day for quiet northern slopes.
If you want the best odds and have the time, the circuit wins. If you want the best week for the money, eight-day Lemosho is very close behind it. We run both, so tell us which matters more and we will say which one fits your dates.
Both start with the same drive to Londorossi and the same wild western forest.
The Northern Circuit suits climbers whose first aim is the summit and who have nine days to give it.
It suits people who have climbed Kilimanjaro before on a standard route and want a different mountain out of the second attempt.
It suits anyone who dislikes crowds enough to pay for quiet, because that is exactly the trade it offers.
It does not suit a tight budget. The fees alone put it above every other route before a camp or a guide is counted.
And it does not suit anyone with under two weeks, once flights, a rest day and the drive to Londorossi are all counted in.
January to March and June to October, like the rest of the mountain.
The northern slopes are drier than the south, so the circuit holds up better than Machame or Lemosho in a wet spell. It still crosses the western forest on the first day, and that forest is wet whatever the north is doing.
June to September is the reliable window and the coldest. Nights on the northern camps at 4,000 m and above are hard frosts.
January to March is warmer and quieter and works well.
Nine-day itineraries need booking a long way ahead in the peak months, and full-moon dates go first.
Places Kilimanjaro
Nine days and about 98 km, right round the quiet northern side of Kibo. The longest route on Kilimanjaro…