Machame Route: 7 days to Uhuru Peak

The Whiskey route, the most popular way up Kilimanjaro

Machame is the route most climbers take, and with good reason. It approaches from the south-west, crosses four distinct climate zones in seven days, and its profile does the acclimatisation work for you: the third day climbs to Lava Tower at 4,630m before dropping back to sleep at 3,960m, which is the single most effective thing you can do for your chances on summit night.

It is a camping route and it is harder underfoot than Marangu, the nickname "Whiskey" was coined against Marangu's "Coca-Cola". The trade-off is scenery and success rate. It is also the busiest route on the mountain, and from Barranco onward it shares its path with Lemosho and Umbwe.

  • 7 days climb
  • Uhuru Peak
  • Challenging

From $2,420 per person, based on a group of 2

  1. Machame Gate to Machame Camp
  2. Machame Camp to Shira Camp
  3. Shira Camp to Barranco Camp via Lava Tower
  4. Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp
  5. Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp
  6. Summit day, Barafu to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp
  7. Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

Kilimanjaro