MOUNT KILIMANJARO BIKE TREK
5-Day Kilimanjaro Bike Trekking Tour
Ride Up · Ride Down · Kilema Route
Tour Overview
The bike trek is one of our trekking products on Mount Kilimanjaro. The Kilema Route is the only route where a bike trek can reach the top of Kilimanjaro by mountain bike. With our experienced guides, the whole trip to summit Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m) takes 5 or 6 days with proper acclimatization. Compared to other routes, it has no stones or gravel on its path, making it easy to cycle smoothly while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the mountain.
This activity provides physical exercise and recreational use of the natural environment, with minimal impact, while enhancing the visitor experience. Summit-bound visitors use the Kilema Route (19km), and cyclists meet their porters at Horombo Hut before continuing to the summit.
Guests are supplied with mattresses and pillows, but sleeping bags are still required. The huts have communal dining halls, and basic washrooms and toilets. Because the route is fairly short, altitude acclimatization can be more difficult, and since it approaches Kilimanjaro from the southeast, it tends to be one of the more crowded routes.
NOTEThe main difference between the 5-day and 6-day bike trek (Ride Up – Ride Down) via the Marangu route is an additional acclimatization day at Horombo on day three.
Trip At A Glance
Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Welcome To Tanzania
Thank you for choosing Chagga Village, a local tour company in Moshi, Tanzania. Make yourself at home and enjoy your African adventure with us. Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, a Chagga Village representative will meet you and transfer you to your overnight accommodation at a hotel in Moshi (bed & breakfast). Your head guide will meet you for a briefing, a gear check, and to arrange any equipment you may need to hire.
DAY BY DAY ITINERARY
DAY 1Marangu Gate → Kilema Gate → Horombo Hut
Meet your guide and transfer to the Marangu gate, about a 2.5-hour drive through the village of Marangu, on the lower slopes of the mountain. Once you reach the park gate, all hikers register at the park office. After signing in at Marangu gate, you'll drive to the Kilema gate. On arrival, make sure you have all your daypack items (drinking water, lunch pack, and extra clothing) and do a final check on your mountain bike. You'll then start the first section of the route, 16km from Kilema gate (1,950m) to Horombo Hut (3,705m), with your guide riding alongside you. Bikers with good fitness and mountain biking skills, and depending on road conditions, will be able to cycle all the way to Horombo Hut. Since the biggest cause of altitude sickness is ascending too high too quickly, you'll stop regularly to give your body time to adjust to the higher altitude, aiming to reach Horombo Hut by around 3:00pm.MEALSLunch & Dinner NOTEAccommodation: Horombo HutALTITUDE
1,950m → 3,700m
DISTANCE
16km
TIME
6–8 hrs
DAY 2Horombo Hut → Mawenzi → Back to Horombo (Acclimatization)
Day two is set aside for acclimatization. It's highly recommended to hike all the way to Mawenzi Hut, giving your body time to adjust — this improves your chances of reaching Uhuru Peak, and rewards you with magnificent views of Kibo. This day shouldn't be underestimated, as it greatly improves your chance of a successful summit. After a relaxing breakfast, a 4-hour trek follows to Zebra Rocks (4,020m), named for their distinctive black-and-white stripes. On your return to Horombo Hut, a warm lunch will be waiting for you, and you can relax in the afternoon and regain your strength for the following day's hike.MEALSBreakfast, Lunch & Dinner NOTEAccommodation: Horombo HutALTITUDE
3,700m → 4,020m
DISTANCE
5km
TIME
3–4 hrs
DAY 3Horombo Hut → Kibo Hut
After breakfast, meet your guide and head back up to Kibo Hut. The first 3km requires porters pushing and carrying your bike much of the way, with the final 7km to Kibo Hut offering a good biking trail. After lunch, you'll rest, and around 4:00pm, depending on how you feel, it's possible to hike partway up the summit path to get oriented for your summit attempt that night. Kibo Hut, in the barren alpine desert, is a stone-built block house with bunk beds for 60 climbers, though there's no water source nearby and only platform toilets behind the hut. The summit (Uhuru Peak) is a further 1,195m up, and you'll make your final ascent that same night. Prepare your equipment and thermal clothing for the summit bid, including spare headlamp and camera batteries, and consider carrying your water in a thermal flask to prevent freezing. Go to bed around 7:00pm and try to rest until 10:00pm.MEALSBreakfast, Lunch & Dinner NOTEAccommodation: Kibo HutALTITUDE
3,700m → 4,700m
DISTANCE
10km
TIME
6–8 hrs
DAY 4Kibo Hut → Uhuru Peak → Back to Horombo Hut
At 4:00am, your guides will wake you to start the zigzag trek up the long scree slope. After roughly two hours, you'll reach Hans Meyer's Cave, where the gradient gets steeper. Continue climbing for about another three hours to Gilman's Point, where you'll take your bike from the porters and ride to Uhuru Peak. After arriving, spend a few minutes taking photos at the summit before descending, stopping for lunch and a rest at Kibo before continuing to Horombo. The start of this climb is done in the dark and requires headlamps or flashlights, and it will be very cold until you begin descending, so bring all your warm layers — this is by far the most difficult part of the trek, with many switchbacks. Going slowly (“pole pole”) with an optimistic attitude will get you there. Cycling from Kibo to Uhuru and back to Kibo, the terrain is 15–20% alpine desert; from Kibo to Horombo it's entirely alpine desert and icecap.MEALSBreakfast, Lunch & Dinner NOTEAccommodation: Horombo HutASCENT
4,700m → 5,895m
DESCENT
5,895m → 3,700m
DISTANCE
4km up / 14km down
TIME
10–12 hrs
DAY 5Horombo Hut → Kilema Gate → Marangu Gate → Moshi/Arusha
After breakfast, make your final ride down to Kilema gate, crossing the alpine zone and rainforest. From there, you'll be transferred to Marangu gate for check-out. A vehicle will meet you at Marangu gate to drive you back to your hotel in Moshi. Don't forget to tip your guides and porters — it's time for celebration!MEALSBreakfast & Lunch NOTEOvernight at a hotel in Moshi (bed & breakfast), before your onward journey home, on safari, or to Zanzibar.ALTITUDE
3,700m → 1,700m
DISTANCE
18km
TIME
3 hrs
What's Included / What's Not Included
What's Included
Crew
- ✓ Lead guide(s) and assistant guide(s) for groups of 2 or more
- ✓ English-speaking guides, trained as Wilderness First Responders
- ✓ Cook, porters, and equipment, including personal client luggage (15kg per client)
- ✓ A porter-to-client ratio of 3–4 to 1
Equipment
- ✓ 2-inch foam sleeping mat and pillow
- ✓ Walk-in dining tent, table, and backed chairs
- ✓ Wash basins with hot water each morning and evening
Food & Drink
- ✓ Three meals a day, plus an afternoon snack during the trek
- ✓ Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options on request
- ✓ Treated drinking water (minimum 3L per day while trekking, with more available at camp)
- ✓ Coffee and tea during the trek
Health & Safety
- ✓ Pulse oximeter and altitude sickness checklists
- ✓ First aid kit and emergency oxygen
Preparation & Fees
- ✓ Kilimanjaro National Park fees and VAT
- ✓ Camping/hut, rescue, conservation, and other taxes
- ✓ Fair and sustainable crew wages
- ✓ Pre-trek briefing with your guide
Accommodation & Transfers
- ✓ Round-trip airport transfer between Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) and Moshi
- ✓ Round-trip transfer between Moshi and the park gate
- ✓ Hotel stays in Moshi before and after the trek (2 nights total, bed & breakfast)
What's Not Included
- ✗ Gratuities and tips
- ✗ Personal trekking gear, such as a sleeping bag and clothing
- ✗ Favorite beverages (water, soda, and alcohol at hotels)
- ✗ Additional accommodation or meals resulting from an early descent
- ✗ Tanzania entry visa
- ✗ Travel insurance
- ✗ Domestic or international flights
- ✗ Personal expenses
- ✗ Personal hire gear, such as trekking poles or sleeping bags
- ✗ Personal spending money for souvenirs, etc.
- ✗ Extra acclimatization nights ($120 per room, bed & breakfast)
- ✗ Trekking bike hire ($40 per bike, per day)
Ethical Climbing
At Chagga Village, we believe the tourism industry has both an obligation and a real opportunity to protect the world's natural habitats, cultural heritage sites, and communities. We actively support environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
As a responsible travel company, we help raise public awareness around the fair treatment of porters on Kilimanjaro, and support fair salaries, proper equipment, food, clothing, and sleeping conditions for our crew.
Every climb is reviewed to make sure crew members receive fair salaries, tips, food, equipment, and sleeping conditions. We're proud of that, and our clients are too — check out our TripAdvisor page to see what people are saying about us.
Recommended Tipping Guide
Tipping is customary on Mount Kilimanjaro for all members of your mountain crew. Although they receive a fair wage, tips make up an important part of their total compensation. Industry recommendations are about $20 a day for the guide, $15 a day for the assistant guide, $12 a day for the cook, and $8 a day for each porter, shared among everyone on the trip.
NOTETo keep tipping fair and transparent, there's a tipping ceremony at the Chagga Village office after your descent, with envelopes provided for each crew member.
Know Before You Go
We're completely flexible and happy to customize your trip to suit your time, budget, and interests — just let us know what you have in mind.
