Flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport
If you choose to climb Kilimanjaro with us you will be required to purchase your flights yourself and to send us details in order to confirm precise dates for your climb, if you are not climbing on one of our scheduled climbs.
Booking the Cheapest Flights to Kilimanjaro
The following flight comparison and booking sites are worth comparing prices on before deciding to book your seats. We've listed them in price order - cheapest first - on the basis of a sample search for the same seats from Barcelona to Nairobi with ravel dates from 26th December 2020 to 8th January 2021. Comparisons were current on 16th December 2020:
- βββ Momondo - Quick site. Helpfully shows price comparisons with alternative dates. TK's recommended option if needing to work to exact dates.
- ββ TripAdvisor Flights - Uses Kayak's engine to get cheaper prices than Kayak. Quick site. Around $10 higher than cheapest.
- ββ Kiwi - Slow, slightly buggy site. Around $20 higher than cheapest.
- ββ Fare Compare - Strange algorithms and cookie behaviour. Same seats vary by $15 within minutes. Disable cookies and pay $110 more!
- ββ Skyscanner - Around $40 higher than cheapest. Searches load slowly.
- βββ Google Flights - Super fast and easy to use. $45 higher than cheapest, but the best presentation of the cheapest alternative dates. TK's recommended option for climbers with flexible schedules.
- ββ Kayak - Around $50 higher than cheapest. Searches load slowly.
- ββ Booking.com - Convenient one-stop booking with flights and hotels stored in one reliable app. Around $50 higher than cheapest.
- β Cheap Flights - Around $45 higher than cheapest. Slow buggy site.
- β Travelocity - Around $70 high than cheapest. Identical engine to Expedia.
- β CheapOair - Quick site, but around $80 more than cheapest. Useful cheapest dates option.
- β OneTravel - Identical site and prices to CheapOair.
- ββ Expedia - Reliable. Good mobile app. But around $75 higher than cheapest.
- π Travelzoo - Very hard to navigate if looking only for flights.
Getting to Kilimanjaro Using Flights Within East Africa
If flying into Nairobi or Dar es Salaam as opposed to Kilimanjaro International Airport, or if wishing to visit Zanzibar after climbing Kilimanjaro or going on safari with us, you may wish to obtain onward flights within East Africa. Team Kilimanjaro are not air traffic organisers and can only arrange places with third party aviation companies on domestic flights that are part of a safari itinerary. However, these are also possible to book directly:
- Alternative Airlines - Only useful for domestic flights or fares that don't show up on major flight comparison sites as long-leg flights show at around $130 higher than the cheapest prices available. Useful for connections to Rwanda and Uganda if going on a gorilla tracking safari after Kilimanjaro.
- Coastal Aviation - Only useful for connections on the safari circuit as flights for non-Tanzanian residents between Arusha, Kilimanjaro Airport, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam are around double the cost when compared with Precision Air. Buggy site. Note also that you need to book at least 48 hours if buying online.
- Precision Air - Most usually booked for connecting flights from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro Airport, and for other legs within East Africa.
Getting to Kilimanjaro by Bus from Nairobi
If unable to find affordable flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport an alternative is that you fly to Nairobi, spend the night at a hotel there and transfer to Arusha via a six hour bus journey, crossing the border at Namanga. Youβll need a Kenyan tourist visa for this option which you can purchase at Nairobi airport when you arrive.
A reliable and centrally situated hotel that is very conveniently located for pickup by the Shuttle Bus service to Arusha is the Comfort Hotel with whom you are encouraged to book directly.
If you wish to take the Shuttle Bus from Nairobi to Arusha you can either book and pre-pay for this via their website: www.riverside-shuttle.com or else request Team Kilimanjaro to book this on your behalf, if happy to commit yourself to an exact departure time. If you wish us to do this you will need to specify whether you wish to use the morning (leaves Nairobi at 0800 and arrives into Arusha around 1400) or afternoon (usually leaves at 1400 - though currently suspended during COVID) Nairobi departure and you will need to have ready the (variable) fare of USD 25-35 per person in cash on boarding the bus.
Private Vehicle Transfers to Kilimanjaro from Nairobi
If youβre arriving into Nairobi too late in the day to catch the Shuttle Bus departures to Arusha, and you donβt want to lose time spending a night in Nairobi, another option is to use a private vehicle transfer from Nairobi Airport to your hotel in Arusha. This option usually takes a little over four hours and costs between USD 250 (for a small car) and USD 500, depending on availability, the size of the vehicle requested, and the time of day you wish to travel.
Travelling at night is possible in the case of climbers who are very pressed for time, however the roads are not very well serviced between Nairobi and Arusha, and in places there are potholes which, in our view, makes this option much riskier than most would be happy with. Team Kilimanjaro are able to arrange private vehicle transfers on climbersβ behalves, by subcontracting Kenyan transit operators.
The results obtained by using the calculator below should not be regarded as authoritative as this is not an objective means of measurement. The algorithms are simply based on a reasonably accurate correlation between known the performance of athletes on the beep test and their otherwise-measured pre-known VO2 max data. It is however, a very useful tool in our view, and renders a very acceptably accurate approximation of VO2 max.
While it is not necessary to undergo any specialised form of mountain specific Kilimanjaro training, we do strongly recommend that if youβre planning to climb Kilimanjaro, you should certainly give plenty of thought to how much time you can make available to train for Kilimanjaro.
There is no requirement to have any vaccinations for visitors to Tanzania unless the climber will have recently visited, or spent more than 12 hours in transit through, a Yellow Fever risk area prior to entering Tanzania. This requirement will affect climbers en route to Arusha from Nairobi if they choose to overnight there. Yellow fever risk areas are shown in yellow below.
Nearly all climbers who are not East African residents are required to obtain a visa for Tanzania. There are a few exceptions to this rule, with some countries having reciprocal visa-free relationships with Tanzania. To ensure that you have up to date information with respect to the requirements of passport holders of your nationality, we recommend using the Passport Index website.
We are sometimes asked whether we are able to obtain travel insurance on behalf of our clients. However, we have found over the years that climbers prefer to be in direct contact with the insurers, as in the event of a claim, there is quite a lot of passing information back and forth, and this is generally most easily managed directly, rather than via an intermediary.
In our experience, the vast majority of prospective Kilimanjaro climbers would benefit from undertaking a well planned strategy of preparation before beginning an ascent of the worldβs largest freestanding mountain. The following are areas you are well advised to pay attention to:
When ascending mountains at high altitude, perhaps the most significant factor contributing to success, beyond acquiring safe and thorough acclimatisation, is the trekker's power to weight ratio. If you're heavy, you're going to struggle, whether the reason you're heavy is that you're carrying a lot of muscle, or your body is well equipped with unused "emergency reserves".
If you choose to climb Kilimanjaro with us you will be required to purchase your flights yourself and to send us details in order to confirm precise dates for your climb, if you are not climbing on one of our scheduled climbs.