Kilimanjaro FAQs, answered honestly

Nope. There's no technical climbing on any of the normal routes: no ropes, no ice axes, and no scrambling beyond using your hands now and then. It's a long uphill walk at altitude. Just remember, that's not the same thing as easy.

Fit enough to walk five to seven hours a day for most of a week, and then to walk for seven or eight hours in the dark on summit night after a bad night's sleep. Regular hill walking in the months before you go is worth far more than gym sessions.

Altitude, almost always. Not fitness, and rarely the weather. That's why the number of days you take matters more than anything else, and why the shortest itinerary isn't the bargain it looks like.

More than the minimum. Every route on our routes page is offered over more than one length where the mountain allows it, and the longer version is there to help you acclimatise, not for sightseeing.

We don't publish one, and honestly, we'd be suspicious of anyone who does. No operator's figure is audited, companies define success differently, and the number depends almost entirely on how many days a group takes and how willing a guide is to turn someone around. So ask us how many days a route needs instead. That's what really changes your odds.

Summit night is the cold one: below freezing, often well below, with wind on top. The lower camps are mild. You're packing for rainforest and arctic conditions on the same trip, and that's why the kit list is so long.

Marangu is the only route with huts. Every other route camps. Huts aren't so much more comfortable as more sociable, and Marangu also has the least acclimatisation built into it.

Most people do, and the order matters. Climb first while you're fresh, then go on safari while you recover. Do it the other way round and you'll face summit night after a week of five o'clock starts.