The Northern Circuit is the newest of Kilimanjaro's routes and, for anyone who can spare the days, the best. It starts on the Lemosho trail through the western rainforest and across the Shira Plateau, then instead of turning up toward the summit it swings north and traces the quiet, rarely walked slopes below the Northern Ice Fields for almost half the mountain's circumference before approaching the crater from the east.
All that extra time — nine days, seven of them above 3,000 m — gives the body the slow, steady acclimatisation that summit success depends on, and operators report the highest completion rates of any route. It is also the most scenic and by far the most solitary. The trade-off is cost and time; there is no short version.
Drive to the Londorossi gate on the west of the mountain and trek through montane rainforest to Mti Mkubwa Camp (about 2,780 m).
Climb out of the forest into giant-heather moorland and onto the Shira Plateau, camping at Shira 1 (about 3,500 m).
An easy day across the plateau with big views of the Kibo cone, camping at Shira 2 (about 3,850 m) — an acclimatisation walk in the afternoon.
Leave the busy southern routes and head north to the quiet Moir Hut valley (about 4,200 m), with an optional climb of Lent Hills.
Begin the northern traverse across open, empty slopes to Buffalo Camp (about 4,020 m).
Continue around the north side over the Buffalo Ridge to Third Cave (about 3,870 m).
Climb east and then south across the Saddle to School Hut (about 4,800 m), the launch point for the summit.
From around midnight, climb to Gilman's Point and on to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m) at sunrise. Descend the Barafu side to Millennium Camp (3,820 m).
The final descent through the rainforest to the Mweka gate and your summit certificate.
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