Hi

Should I bring a stroller to Venice and Roma?
My son is 1.5 yrs old.
Are the buses of venice n rome stroller friendly?
Please guide us.

Thanx
Sree

There aren't that many people bringing up families in Venice any more. But those that remain DO use prams.

Most outsiders find prams tricky though. There aren't any buses: getting a pram with a child onto the waterbuses isn't something I'd like to do with other people pushing to get on at the same time. While getting a pram over the bridges is a nuisance, many parents might prefer that nuisance to carrying a tired eightenn-month old.

I'd have thought you'd want to take the pram, but have a backup for Venice.

The fact that you ask the question the way you do, though, does rather imply you've not quite grasped the point about Venice. You cannot travel more than 50 yards in practically any direction without crossing a canal by bridge or boat, and prams are more or less the only wheeled vehicles operating in the city.

Babies grow up there, and lots of tourists bring babies. But it's not somewhere I'd take a baby when I had the rest of my (and the child's) life to visit the city at a time the child was of an age more suited to Venice's unusual challenges.

Even if you're going back to India or North America in a year or so, Venice'll be there for a very long time.

Thanx Flanneruk, for your response.

Well yes carrying him without a pram, will be tough for us as we have to do lots of walking in Rome.

In Venice well I can keep the Pram in the hotel and move around, but what about Rome?
Is it advisable to carry the Pram in Rome?

Sree,

Reading this might help a lot:


http://www.fodors.com/news/story_1919.html

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34802236

If you mean something like a McLaren or other folding umbrella type stroller, you not only could but _should_ bring it to either place.

If you mean something like a jogging stroller or a "Royal Family" type English pram/baby carriage the size of a Bentley or SUV, you shouldn't bring it to either place.

If your son is adept at walking, I'd bring the buggy in Rome, but leave it in the hotel in Venice. The headache of carrying it over every footbridge and in out out of the water taxis is enough to deter me. If you have a non-frame backpack carrier such as an ergo or mei tai, I'd bring that for Venice. I opt for non-frame carriers b/c they don't take up the amount of room that structured ones do, and you can throw it into your day bag without the bulk & hassle of lugging a frame backpack around.

I agree with ackis

The stroller will go on an off the Venice waterbuses quite easily -- no lifting up or down, just stroll it right onboard.

All the small bridges -- 3 steps up, 3 steps down -- will be a nuisance. If both mom and dad are travelling with baby, it is not so hard to pick up the stroller by front and back end and hop up and down the steps -- but you'd be much happer with a lightweight umbrella stroller than a big heavy one.

Why don't you just wait and see when you get to Venice?

We traveled to Rome and Venice last year (Nov 2007) when my son was 22 months old. We did bring the stroller and used it extensively, even in Venice. I seem to recall there were no problems using the water buses in Venice. The buses in Rome do require you to lift it up, but aside from that were fine.

As said above, you will be crossing <b>many</b> bridges in Venice. We bought a Combi Cosmo EX specifically for the trip as it was the lightest (12.5 lbs/5.6 kg) reasonably priced stroller which reclined we could find. I often carried it up and down the bridges by myself, or someone would grab the front and someone else the back. (There were 4 of us: my wife and I and my wife's parents.) A carrier probably would have worked better, but we didn't have a large enough one and wanted to minimize the (already voluminous) stuff we were packing. Also, I'm not sure carrying him for the day would have been too pleasant.

In Rome, the stroller worked out pretty well aside from a few areas of the Forum and at Ostia Antica, where it was a real pain. Also, you cannot bring them into St. Peters. (You check at the coat check.) This greatly annoyed my wife who had to carry my sleeping son, but what are you going to do? The Colosseum was, surprisingly, one of the easiest sites to navigate with a stroller as it's on two levels with an elevator between them.

Good luck,
Paul

We used a backpack for my daughter in Rome, when she was 15 months.

It did have a few drawbacks, mostly her weight after a few hours.

But, we also could cross the street, or step into the street, without any worries.

The only reason we used the backpack was our airline, or FCO, lost our stroller. And we were happy to have a back up plan.

My son was about 15 months when we went to Rome in 2006. I, too, worried about the stroller issue, and I think I even posted about it here! (Under another screen name/on another computer which I've forgotten now...)

We didn't take a stroller. My conclusion after going was that while a stroller would have been wonderful at times, it might just have been a lot of trouble too. Part of the evaluation has to be how much public transportation you are going to use. Buses tend to be very crowded, the Metro, at times is as well. It was hard enough getting all of us on in one piece - I can't imagine what it would have been like if we had a stroller to wrangle as well.

I wondered about the cobblestones, too. I don't know what kind of ride that would have been.

We had a backpack carrier, which worked fine. We traded him because he did get heavy. And I eventually figured out if I just wore a cap he wouldn't be so tempted to yank my hair....

You can't take prams into St Peter's?

So all that stuff about &quot;Suffer little children to come unto me&quot; was a misprint. He really said &quot;Suffer, little children&quot;

Dress code, no dogs, no prams. Is there really no limit to the bloody Vatican's invention of absurd rules completely bereft of any biblical justification?

I can't imagine going to these places without a stroller. My DD would never have been happy in a back pack. Even now at 3, a troller would be essential. I would definitely take a good umbrella stroller.

Response to Sanshag comment&quot;

&quot;Also, you cannot bring them into St. Peters. (You check at the coat check.) This greatly annoyed my wife who had to carry my sleeping son, but what are you going to do?&quot;

What you are going to do, is to carry him YOURSELF, you slacker. Where is it written (in modern times) that women are the designated schleppers?? Wow, do you ever need an attitude update!!

To travelerjan:

Actually what happened is that they directed my wife to what we thought was going to be an elevator and turned out to be the coat check. I went ahead up the stairs with my in-laws and then went ahead on my own to take photos while they waited for my wife and son. I didn't realize she didn't have the stroller until we were almost done. At that point, we were trying to keep him from waking up, which switching him almost certainly would have done. Trust me, I carried him my fair share throughout our trip.

Paul