How to plan a Kilimanjaro climb, in eight steps

1. Pick your season

Kilimanjaro has two dry windows — roughly January to mid-March and late June to October — and two rainy seasons. It is climbed all year, and no month guarantees anything, but the season sets the weather and the crowds.

If you want a full moon lighting the way on summit night, the full moon dates are listed for the next two years. Pack as though it will rain every day, whatever the month.

2. Choose your days

Seven days is the sensible minimum; eight is better. More nights on the way up give your body time to adjust to the altitude, which raises your chance of summiting and lowers your risk of serious illness. Five-day itineraries are the cheapest and have the lowest success rates. The numbers are on the routes page.

Remember that days on the mountain aren't days of holiday. Add travel each way, a buffer night in Moshi or Arusha before the climb and ideally one after: a seven-day climb is realistically an eleven- or twelve-day trip from Europe or North America.

3. Compare routes

For most first-timers, Lemosho over eight days or Machame over seven. The routes differ in scenery, crowds and whether you sleep in tents or huts far more than in difficulty. Every route is compared on the routes page.

4. Vet operators

Check the KPAP partner list, ask for a TALA licence, and send every shortlisted company the same safety questions. The specific answers — oxygen, pulse oximetry, evacuation — will sort them faster than any review site. The questions, red flags and a checklist are on the operators page.

5. Set the budget

Expect roughly $1,800–$3,500 per person for a seven- or eight-day climb with an established local operator, plus tips, flights, visa, insurance and gear. Around a third of a mid-range quote is fixed park fees, and the all-in cost for most climbers lands between $3,500 and $5,500. The cost page breaks it down and checks what each quote leaves for the crew; the tipping page works out the tips.

6. Sort the paperwork

Visa

Most visitors need a visa for Tanzania. Apply online through the official Tanzania Immigration e-visa portal two to four weeks before you travel — processing is officially up to ten working days. A single-entry tourist visa is $50 for most nationalities; US citizens pay $100 for a one-year multiple-entry visa, the only type offered to them. You need a passport valid for six months beyond arrival with a blank page. Print the approval: airlines ask for it at check-in. Avoid reseller sites that charge extra for the same form.

Tanzania's entry insurance

Tanzania has introduced a compulsory government travel insurance for most foreign visitors: about $44 per person, covering basic emergency treatment for up to 92 days. Reports differ on exactly when it started being enforced, so check the immigration portal or ask your operator before you fly. It is an entry requirement, not mountain cover — you still need the trekking policy below.

Vaccinations and malaria

Book a travel clinic appointment six to eight weeks before you fly; some vaccines need time or more than one dose. Clinics typically check your routine boosters and recommend hepatitis A and typhoid, often hepatitis B too. Yellow fever is only required if you arrive from, or transit for more than twelve hours through, a yellow fever country — and that rule catches people with long layovers in places like Nairobi or Addis Ababa.

The mountain itself is free of malaria above roughly 1,800 m, but Moshi, Arusha and the safari parks are not, and every climb starts and ends there. Ask the clinic about prevention, and mention you'll be at altitude: some antimalarials have side effects that are easy to confuse with altitude symptoms. Check the current health guidance before your appointment, and pack prescription medicines in your daypack, not the duffel.

Travel insurance

Your policy must cover trekking to 6,000 m and helicopter evacuation. Plenty of standard travel policies stop at a lower altitude, exclude "mountaineering", or cover medical costs but not the helicopter that reaches you. Card and airline cover almost never includes altitude rescue. Email the insurer one question — "Does this policy cover helicopter evacuation on a guided Kilimanjaro trek to 5,895 m?" — and keep the written answer. Buy it when you pay your deposit so cancellation cover starts straight away, send the certificate to your operator, and make sure your guide has the emergency number. The park's rescue fee is not insurance.

7. Train for 12 weeks

The goal is to walk six or more hours a day, several days running, without it wearing you down. You don't need a gym. You need time on your feet, on hills, carrying a pack, in the boots you'll wear.

8. Pack right

You walk through every climate from rainforest to arctic summit, so the packing problem is range, not weight. Your operator will send a list; compare it with this one and bring what's missing. Bulky items like sleeping bags and down jackets can usually be rented in Moshi.

The four things people most often get wrong: boots that haven't been broken in, a sleeping bag that isn't warm enough, no genuinely waterproof outer layer, and no trekking poles. And before you go, read the safety and altitude guide — it is the most important page on this site.