Hi,
We are travelling to Italy (Milan->Venice->Florence->Naples->Rome) from NY with our 12 month old.
We are confused over the need to carry a stroller vs front/back carrier (we have a Beco).
I read that a stroller can be pretty useless with cobblestones, steps and some museums not allowing them inside.
On the other hand the thought of carrying baby all day all over seems daunting.
I would appreciate if someone in our situation can share their experience.
Thanks
Hi there,
We travelled in Italy (Florence, countryside Tuscany and Rome) for two weeks with our then 16 month old. He weighed about 11kg. We used our Boba.
Obviously it is up to you, but everywhere we saw other parents struggling with strollers on uneven surfaces, steps, public transport whereas we had no issues whatsoever. We are used to carrying our son though, and would have him on our back for sightseeing and put him on the front for naps - or we would take him back to the apartment for naps (or in the car in the country side). We took turns carrying him and obviously he would also walk. The thing is, you aren't really going to want to be out all day with a toddler anyway - they will need some down quiet time.
From my perspective, having travelled to 8 different countries with our son, having a stroller is useless. However if you are determined to bring one, take only an inexpensive lightweight umbrella stroller that you can also carry over your shoulder (for when it is impossible to use it).
We went to Pisa and Lucca with our 2.5yr old and decided to take a small wheeled stroller(from my mothers house) It was rubbish. We are used to using our 3wheel jogger, so maybe we are a little spoiled, but we hated the effort it took to push the umbrella stroller and the wheels constantly were getting stuck in the kerbs and cobbles. My husband wanted to abandon it he was so sick of it. Plus it kept tipping over when toddler wasn't in it. We usually use the 3wheeler like a pack house when we're out all day.
TBH, I'd bring both the backpack and stroller. The backpack is really good for general out and about trips, but a kid and yourselves will need a break from it. Maybe use the stroller around the airport and in the evening when out for a stroll or going for dinner.
We did both a lightweight stroller and an ergo carrier and was happy with that. Depending on what we were doing we would sometimes leave the stroller "home" for the day, but most of the time we brought it. We took our stroller around Rome, Florence, Venice, Bologna, and Milan without any issues. Museums that didn't allow strollers inside all had a secure place to store them.
done about 20 trips to Italy with a kid between 0 and 4 years. NEVER took a stroller. Used a baby carrier on the back http://store.ergobaby.com/ until she was 18kg and my back gave in.
We went to Italy for 5 weeks when our son was 2 1/2. We took a cheap umbrella style stroller and used it successfully in most big/medium cities: Rome, Florence, Bologna, Perugia, Assisi, Siena, Pisa. A bumpy ride, but fun for a 2 year old! It was useless in Venice and Cinque Terre and semi useful in Sorrento. I'd say bring a cheap used stroller and if it doesn't serve you well, you can leave it behind. For a 12 months old an Ergo style carrier is great - we could have used ours when we were in Venice for sure - the stroller didn't help and he was pretty grumpy about walking around the days we were there. We travelled in Mexico when he was 18 months and the Ergo was a godsend, even in the heat.
Thanks for the responses. We are back from an amazing trip, I would like to share my experience to help someone with the same questions I had.
We ended up skipping the stroller and taking only our Beco carrier for the baby.
The baby carrier worked great in Venice since there were a lot of bridges. The carrier worked great in public transit (we used the metro in Milan and Rome, it would have been a hassle to look for an elevator each time or lug the stroller up and down stairs).
We did notice a lot of people with strollers, Milan, Florence and Rome were all very stroller friendly. Also, I had reports on the internet that strollers were not allowed in museums like the Vatican Museum. This info seems inaccurate, We saw strollers allowed in the museums we were in (Academia and Uffizi in Florence, Vatican).
Overall, I think taking a stroller would have not have been really that big a hassle. But, we are used to carrying our baby in the Beco and walking (a lot), so this option worked well for us.
Other things I would like to mention regarding the trip:
. Diapers & Formula: We stayed close to the big sights in most places, the pharmacies and grocery stores we visited did not have a wide variety of diapers. Only could find basic huggies or pampers, if you have a specific need (organic, hypo allergic etc), I recommend bringing /shipping for the length of the trip. Same applies to formula, if your baby only tolerates a certain brand, do not count on finding it easily over there.
. Ready to use baby food: Again only could find very basic stuff like bottled carrots, no fancy stuff like in the US. Also, there was baby food which had prosciutto, veal and such (did not help us since we are vegetarians).