Mount Kilimanjaro

A night here — a bunk in a shared A-frame hut, a mattress, a dining hall and other climbers all around you.

Marangu is the only route with permanent huts: dormitory A-frames at Mandara, Horombo and Kibo, with mattresses, communal dining and, low down, running water. It is drier and warmer than canvas and there is no camp to strike each morning. The catch is the route itself — Marangu goes up and comes down the same path, has the weakest acclimatisation profile on the mountain and the lowest summit rate.

Best for

Anyone who will not sleep in a tent, the wetter months, tight budgets

Less good for

Your chances of summiting — and privacy, of which there is none

Where

Mandara 2,700 m · Horombo 3,720 m · Kibo 4,700 m

A night here — canvas at a park campsite, a mess tent with hot food in it, and Kibo above you when you unzip the door in the morning.

Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, Umbwe and the Northern Circuit all camp. Your crew carries, pitches and strikes everything and cooks all of it. Sites are fixed by the park, so you sleep where the route says, and the higher camps are cold, bright and completely exposed. This is how the great majority of climbs are done.

Best for

Almost everyone — and every route with a good summit rate

Less good for

Anyone who genuinely cannot sleep on the ground

Where

Park-designated campsites · Shira, Barranco, Karanga, Barafu and the rest

A night here — a tent you can stand up in, a thicker mat, a chair at dinner and your own toilet tent.

The same route and the same sites, with better equipment carried in: walk-in sleeping tents, proper insulated mats, a heated mess tent with a table and chairs, and a private toilet rather than the park facilities. It buys sleep and dignity rather than altitude, which after five days is not nothing.

Best for

Longer routes, colder months, anyone who sleeps badly

Less good for

The tightest budgets — it does add real cost

Where

Available on every camping route

A night here — a tent inside the summit crater beside the glaciers, at an altitude where sleep barely happens.

A night in the crater itself, just below Uhuru, next to the ash pit and the remaining ice. It is one of the most remarkable places anyone can sleep and it is genuinely serious: sleeping this high carries real risk of altitude illness, and we only run it for climbers who have come up a long route and acclimatised visibly well.

Best for

Experienced trekkers, photographers, second attempts

Less good for

First-timers, short routes, anyone who has struggled below 5,000 m

Where

Inside the Kibo crater · by prior arrangement only

A night here — a hot shower, a garden, a cold drink, and the whole mountain filling the sky above the town.

You need a night either side at minimum. Moshi sits forty-five minutes from the gates and has everything from hostels to comfortable hotels; the coffee farms up the Machame road are quieter and put you closer to the start. Kit checks and briefings happen here the evening before you climb.

Best for

The night before, the night after, and the recovery day

Less good for

Nothing — do not try to fly in and start the same day

Where

Moshi town · the Machame and Marangu roads