Yes, you definitely should take it to one suitcase. I suggest a backpack for you rather than a tote.
Your itinerary seems very do-able with a young child. You aren't moving around too much and seem to have reasonable expectations of what you can-can't do.
I would ABSOLUTELY not ditch the stroller. We would have been totally useless without ours and our daughter was 4. We even pushed it around Venice. She napped, played, ate, charmed people…everything happened from her stroller! It was command central.

Sally30 wrote: "too selfish to help out a single mom lift a suitcase"

It's not always selfishness. What if the only other passenger getting on at that station is an old woman who can barely walk with a cane? Or someone with a bad back? Or someone with two large bags of his own? There is no guarantee that there will be someone able to help.

You may want to look into the France-Italy Eurailpass with several longish train rides in each country - child gets a free pass.

Just to clarify, Anyegr, I'm not looking or wanting help whilst travelling; In fact, I'm trying to figure out the best way for me to travel alone with a small child so I do NOT need to reply on anyone but myself. And through the help of this forum, I think I'm getting there. I absolutely will not require another person to lift my bag or stroller. I may take a bit longer, sure, but patience, humour and grace will prevail :)

You are smart to rely (not reply!) on anyone but yourself BUT IME of zillions of European train rides folks will gladly pitch in to help say lift the stroller off the train even if you don't need or ask for it.

My experience is way different than Anyegr's in this regard. There are also free luggage carts on platforms to help you in the station if needed - carry some euro coins to use them - you get the coin back when you return the cart somewhere in the station to a rack for them.

I applaud your gumption!

Cheers.

Yes, the moving around will be a hassle, but it will be a wonderful trip.

I would say that you should consider a lighter-weight umbrella stroller. Also see whether you can buy a shoulder strap so you could sling it over your back if necessary. And I would agree that the stroller is a must.

Putting your daughter in the stroller in train stations is a possibility. And if you retain her small roller bag, you could probably hang it from the handles of the stroller.

25" one bag, or 21" and tiny roller bag, seems like they each have pros and cons. I'm a short woman, and would have a harder time with a 25". In terms of getting on the train, I would help daughter up the steps with one hand, while holding on to big bag with the other. Then have daughter stand at the top of the steps while you lift the bag up.

When you say "tote" as your carryon, I'm hoping you mean a cross-body bag of some type. Tote implies open top, which makes it less secure, and if a tote is on your shoulder, it's more likely to flop forward when you lean forward. A backpack also has possible security issues (pickpocketing). I have a combination bag that can convert from a shoulder bag / cross-body bag / backpack; you could consider something like that.

Palenq, yes, RELY, not reply... !!! Thank you for the tips!

Please don't worry, my tote is a zippered shoulder bag.

I've been living in a third world country for a year, so we are sensitive to security issues including pickpocketing (I can't tell you how many tourists come here and are stolen from, thankfully we are still intact, probably because we are very aware of where we are)

I'll also look into other strollers, but this one is a favourite of mine and I feel comfortable travelling with it.

Sally30 or Francewithfive -- do either of you have a stroller recommendation?

Mclaren umbrella stroller. They have many models. I got mine used from a friend.

I've never seen luggage carts in stations here; there are too many steps and escalators for them to be of any use.

I would definitely take the stroller; a 4-year old can get tired walking around in a city all day.

London is a great place to be with small children. So many museums that are free where you can just wander around and leave when she gets bored, plenty of parks with playgrounds.

Sounds like a lovely trip!

I have never seen luggage carts at a train station in Europe. Airports, yes, and you usually need coins, but not train stations...

We had the Maclaren Quest. it is a great quality stroller, lightweight, lasted through two kids. However, if I were traveling alone, I think I would try to get a stroller that you can push with one hand (horizonal bar across the top rather than two handlebars) so I could push suitcase with one hand and stroller with other if needed. I did a quick google search and it looks like there are many strollers like that. I'd look up amazon reviews and then try a couple out in the store to make sure they really feel lightweight and fold easily.

Wishing you good luck with this adventure! You will definitely have your hands full! 10 days in the Amalfi Coast is a lot of time - is there a way to par that down and add days to other locatioins? And Milan for just 1 night really doesn't give you much time to do anything. Is that a must see place or can that time be allocated somewhere else?

Also, will your daughter be bringing a favorite doll/stuffed animal along? If so, will she be carrying it or it be packed in your suitcase/tote? Just another thing to account for.

What about souvenirs? No doubt you'll purchase a few things along the way - is there room in your suitcase/tote for them?

Europeans tend to eat dinner later than what we're used to in the States. And refills (pop, ice tea, etc) aren't free as they are in the states.

As others have stated, I've never seen luggage carts at any train station in Europe, so if you do see one, do what you can to get ahold of it.

Hope this works out for you and your daughter!

I've never been in any city in Europe where you couldn't find some place to eat dinner that wasn't late at night, including in countries where people claim everyone eats very late (like Spain). there are always casual places similar to cafes that are open many hours of the day. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

Also, I've never been at any train station in Europe, even in the smallest towns, where there was only one other person but me getting on the train. I just really don't think these things are something to worry about.

But I agree that I have never seen a luggage cart in a train station in Europe.

But I agree that I have never seen a luggage cart in a train station in Europe.>

Luggage carts are ubiquitous in European train stations - here is what Man in Seat 61 (www.seat61.com) says:

Luggage on European trains | What do you do with your bags?
www.seat61.com/luggage-on-european-trains.htm
A guide to taking luggage on European trains, including baggage limits, ... Porters are a thing of the past, but most major stations have self-help luggage trolleys. ... require a coin to release them, which is returned when you return the trolley.>

Man in Seat 61 is right IME in saying most major stations have self-help luggage trolleys (carts).

They are there - usually right outside the train on the platform in a rack that you put a coin in to disengage them and again get the coin back when you return them to another rack in the station area - like at the taxi stand or metro entrance, etc. Not meant to take out of the station very far.

I have seen a luggage cart once, at the Gare Montparnasse a few years ago. Once and only once. And I spend a lot of time on European trains. If there are luggage trolleys that require a coin (and I've never seen them), you have to have the right coinage (a hassle even when you're not encumbered with a kid and strollers and suitcases), let go of the kid, pull the cart out of the lineup, get it out of everyone's way, load it up, take off, and then repeat the process. What do you do with the kid while you return the cart? I probably sound totally neurotic, but I've just come off a month or more of lots of European travel on trains, and there can be a whole lot of minor unanticipated nuisances that even very experienced travelers bang their foreheads over.

Finding food at almost any hour of the day or night has never been a problem for me. Question is: will a 4-year-old want dinner at 9 or10 pm?

I have done a couple of train trips like this in Europe with one or two young kids and no other adult to help out. I never undertook such extensive train plans, though, maybe 3-4 train trips in the space of a couple of weeks or three. Bottom line for me was, it wasn't really much fun at all doing the train travel part of it until we got to our destinations and could fling ourselves on a decent bed and sleep off the exhausting, incessant lugging of bags and keeping an eye out for potential problems and checking the train boards to make sure we got on at the right place on the right train, and stumbling through train aisles looking for a place to stow luggage while hanging onto the kids, and finding sustenance for whiny, tired youngsters. Kind of like that moment when you've been skiing all day and finally get to take off your boots. You wonder why you put yourself through that sort of hell just to have your boots off.

It was fine when they were 8-18. At four it was, sorry, no fun at all. If you can swing it, though, more power to you and I wish you a wonderful trip.

St-Cirq - you may not know what I am talking about and Man in Seat 61 too - here is from the SNCF site:

http://www.sncf.com/en/services/luggage

not sure every station has them but many do - maybe not every country.

The Italian Railways site says luggage carts are being eliminated from most Italian stations - maybe France is doing the same (St-Cirq is usually right in her observations IME) - maybe something to do with terrorists using them for camouflage?

So in Italy at least do not expect to find them in most stations.

Pal, I do know what you're talking about. I am very familiar with those sorts of carts (every supermarket around here has them), but I've never, ever seen them in a European train station. In the last month, I have been in Montparnasse in Paris twice, Bordeaux twice, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Den Bosch, Sarlat, Le Buisson, Les Eyzies, and probably others that I am forgetting. No luggage carts to be seen.

I am guessing Man in Seat 61 spends a lot more time in countries that I don't travel through so much...yet.

Well with the recent onslaught of terrorist threats I would not doubt that luggage trolleys or carts have been removed - much like lockers in France and Italy - that would be logical to me. I've never used them ever but many folks did to get to say the taxi - train travel is becoming harder not easier I guess.

PACK LIGHT IF TAKING THE TRAIN!

The demise of the carts may only be in France, Italy and Benelux perhaps but maybe everywhere - Man in Seat 61 may not have updated his site - next time I'd be on the lookout for them.

Italian fast trains have porters that can be ordered before the train trip the Italian site says. And fake porters can... oh well let's not go there.

Cheers!

And SNCF has a service (that costs a fee) that you can order ahead of time to help you with your luggage, though I don't know anyone who has used it.