way2travelworld

Hello fellow travelers,

We are planning to take public transport to go around and travel in Italy and Switzerland so wanted your opinions on how easy or difficult is it to travel and visit attractions/museums with a 2 year old baby in a Stroller/Pram?

Also wanted your opinions on how stroller friendly are these places: Rome, Naples, Venice, Florence, Pisa/Lucca, Sienna, Milan, Zurich, Basel, Liechtenstein, one out of Jungfraujoch / Lucerne / Bern.

Feel free to add your tips and suggestions. Thank you!

sparkchaser

I guess it depends on the size of your pram but millions of Europeans with children manage to do every day what you are looking to do.

Buses might be a bit of a concern -- look to enter via the door in the middle of the bus.

swandav2000

Hi way2travel,

Yes, you should have no problems on the regular trains or busses/trams -- the other passengers will make room or help you as needed.

But you may have some trouble in a few situations. For instance, if you take the train up to the Jungfraujoch, it can be absolutely jam-packed for the last stretch from Kleine Scheidigg. Many times the train pulls in, and folks RUN to get on and get a seat -- particularly in the summer months.

Similarly, if you take a cable car to a mountain peak, it may be quite full, and folks will be less happy to make room for the stroller.

Have fun as you plan!

s

bvlenci

I live in Italy and have traveled around a bit with my granddaughter when she was still in a stroller. The most convenient type of stroller is that which can be folded easily and is light enough to carry for a short distance.

In Italian cities, you will sometimes encounter obstacles that a stroller can't pass, such as a stairway in the middle of what looks like a street on the map, or an intersection that's totally blocked by illegally parked cars. In these situations, one of you will have to carry the child while the other carries the stroller. A stroller would not be useful in many parts of Venice.

We found that a shoulder sling was often ideal for carrying my granddaughter even at the age of three. On crowded buses, it's also useful to be able to fold the stroller and hold the child on your lap. People will almost always give a seat to a person carrying a child.

More to the point, you want to visit 12 different places, quite some distance apart. This is a lot of moving around with a small child. Ten of your days will be devoted mostly to travel and the logistics associated with travel. I hope you're planning to spend at least six weeks in Europe, because small children are not very accustomed to being moved about day after day and will begin to fret and have problems if you don't space the journeys out.

In Italy, I suggest you stay in Florence for enough time to visit Pisa, Lucca, and Siena as day trips from there. I would consider dropping Naples and Milan unless you have particular things you very much want to see in those cities. I wouldn't dream of taking such a small child to Pompeii, if that's what you're considering. Nor would I take such a small child to the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel.

Ackislander

Read http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-a-toddler.cfm

This is a lovely report, currently in the Europe posts lists, in which she talks all things infant. She uses an umbrella stroller for the first time and is glad of it, and she mentions never finding high chair in Paris. And lots of other good stuff. Plus she writes well and takes great photos.

nytraveler

Agree that without info on how long your trip is it's hard to give specific advice. If this is a trip you are trying to do in 15 to 20 days the entire thing will be a mad rush and you will probably have a very cranky child most of the time.

Especially if you are going in high season - when everything will be mobbed and weather VERY hot and humid - you need to make plans on how to cope with the needs of a small child.

eluckhardt

Regardless of what type of stroller you use back home, an umbrella stroller is definitely what you want to bring on this trip. Yes, it may be hard (but not impossible) to roll over certain cobbled streets, but the small size/compactness is vital.

Matroskin

McLaren stroller was such a lifesaver last summer! Lake Como, Tuscany, and other part of Italy were easily navigated with a stroller. Our little one was happy napping during the day (it reclines to 170 degr) and we were able to get from point A to B much faster if we needed it.

Rostra

My only experience with these was as a passenger.
But I've seen people with the larger wheel versions get around quite easily in Rome with the cobblestones or in places like the Roman Forum.
A quick google image of baby stroller jogger shows some of those types which seem to fold-up rather nicely.

But again no 1st hand experience so I don't now how practical these types are?

bvlenci

The jogger strollers would be very cumbersome if you had to take it on a bus or train. They should be considered strictly for walking. I think it would be difficult even to get one in a car.

way2travelworld

Thank you everyone for your replies and feedback, this helps tremendously. I should have mentioned when and how long we are going but thought I would start a separate thread about that. Anyway here's our itinerary:

We are visiting from April 5th to April 21st. We are keeping Rome, Florence, Venice(1 day) and Zurich as base. The 1st day is travel and relax, Rome 5 nights(1 day trip to Naples), Florence 4 nights (1 day trip to Pisa, 1 day trip to Sienna), Venice 1 night, Zurich 6 nights (1 day trip to Basel, 1 day trip to Liechtenstein, if we are in the mood then 1 more day trip to Jungfraujoch or Lucerne or Bern). 21st morning fly out of Zurich.

We have a stroller which folds easily though not an umbrella but a little sturdy which also reclines so the baby can sleep in there. We will drop Milan and may drop another day trip depending on how the baby and the family is doing. The goal is to visit just the main attractions in the city and not cover everything. Cover whatever we can with the baby and keep it comfortable, won't do a mad rush!

@swandav2000 Thank you for covering Jungfraujoch that was one of the day trips I was not sure of, we might drop it if we want to take it easy.

We definitely want to visit Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St.Peter’s Basilica. Thank you all!

dreamon

If your child is not too heavy, I recommend a baby pack back. It will give you greater mobility and allow your child to see things from other than the perspective of people's knees. They often have a storage compartment and I have heard some come with wheels as well (although that would make them heavier). Ours was a sturdy MacPac and very practical.

Venice, in particular, has a lot of steps. I would take things as they come and see how you feel each morning. Part of the charm of being on holiday in Europe is loitering in a park, cafe or bar. Some of the best memories I have of travelling have nothing to do with seeing famous sights. If it fits in with your child, then I'd definitely adopt the Italian habit of siesta. You can then wander out again about 5pm for an evening stroll and dinner.

Ackislander

I suspect t from experience that you will cut way back on this after you get there.

You don't say how you are traveling. It will make a big difference in whether or not some of your side trips make any sense.

Venice is a huge outlier here. It is my second favorite city in the world, but it will take you the best part of a day to get there from either Rome or Venice, and it is a loooong way from Zurich. If you go to Siena and Pisa from Florence in four days, when will you see anything in Florence? A whole day is a long time to see a tower.

Have you done The Grid? I mean a spreadsheet with days, preferably split into mornings, afternoons, evenings along he side and travel times or activities listed beside them in a column. Another column can include clothing, a third can include when you need to do laundry, the fourth might be grocery shopping etc. This will help you understand how much you are taking on.

Finally, we were asked to leave a Major Tourist Site ( albeit in the US) when the docent couldn't deal with our three year old. Of course you can take an infant into St Peter's or any other place of worship, but you all may be happier with one person going to the Sistine Chapel while the other waits outside with infant, then swapping off. The Forum, on the other hand, is all outdoors so the two yer old can run around like crazy. Again, I think the people in the blog I cited above handled their trip to Paris brilliantly.

way2travelworld

@Ackislander Thank you for the suggestions and creating the details in the grid. I had the grid but not down to the T but should do that. After discussing with you folks it seems we should be ready to adapt/change as per the needs.

Any thoughts on if we need advance booking in terms of availability and price factor for the day trips to Naples, Pisa, Sienna, Basel, Liechtenstein?

dreamon

If you mean advance bookings for trains and buses, then no need in Italy or Switzerland.

In Italy, and especially for shorter journeys like day trips, you can buy a ticket for a regionale train. These are slower than express trains but no need to pre-book and generally pretty cheap. I recommend buying from the automated ticket kiosks at all railway stations. For example, check www.trenitalia.com for tomorrow, say Florence to Pisa. Siena is reached by bus or train - the train station is out of town but there are buses from the local station.

As far as I'm aware, in Switzerland, there is no price advantage of pre-booking trains or buses.

Not sure about entrance tickets to things like the leaning tower of Pisa.

btw many trains in Europe have a number of steps to climb to get on/off the train. For some trains, I would not recommend lifting a stroller with baby strapped in place.

If you could find a baby pack back which converts to a lightweight stroller, it would give you the best of both worlds.

bvlenci

On many routes, you really have little or no choice about the type of train. There will be either high-speed trains OR regional trains. For example, between Venice and Florence, there are no regional trains, and between Florence and Pisa there are ONLY regional trains.

There are no trains any more called express (or espresso). The high-speed trains (Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, and Intercity) have reserved seats, so the ticket is for a particular train.

bvlenci

I absolutely wouldn't take a toddler into the Vatican Museums, unless you're going there on a mid-week afternoon in the middle of winter. The crowding inside is insane, and the museum is huge. It's a good 10-minute walk from the entrance to the Sistine Chapel, or it would be if there were no other people. Usually, however, you're trudging along shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other people in a fairly narrow corridor. I won't go myself anymore except at very off-peak times, and I certainly wouldn't subject a small child to that.

You certainly don't have to worry that your child would disturb the other museum goers in the Vatican Museums. It's pandemonium. Obviously, 90% of the people there know little and care less about art. They just want to say they saw the Sistine Chapel.

dreamon

bvlenci, I made the assumption that a day trip would be a short distance journey. And I used 'express' as an adjective, not the name of a train. But of course you're right.

With regard to seeing places like museums (or anything really), it can often be a nice thing to split up for a half day and allow mum or dad to have some time on their own.

way2travelworld

@dreamon, @bvlenci Yes, I meant trains and buses, thank you. Thank you for your advice and suggestions, they are all tremendously helpful in preparing us for the trip.

The reason I was asking about the tickets for day trips is because we can have a flexible schedule and can drop or go next day to a place if we want to take it easy with the baby. So it looks like it wouldn't make any difference whether I buy it in advance or on the spot. Awesome!