Stroller debate
 

I'm debating whether to take our 3 wheeled jogging stroller or our Maclearan umbrella stroller for our 4 week trip to Italy. We will be spending 4 days in Rome (where I plan to use a backpack carrier) and then spending the remaining time touring around Tuscany. We will have a rental car, so public transport will only be an issue when we take the train to some major centers like Florence and Pisa. I'm leaning towards the jogging stroller, since it folds up fairly compact and manouvres better, but am just worried about the size. Any suggestions or help would be great!

I would take as small and narrow as possible. Many sidewalks are only wide enough for one person.

Go for a backpack option, roads are narrow, and there is quite a lot of dog poo (in Florence). Sorry but you neeed the full parental reality based on my experience :)

I'm sure Italians use three wheeled jogging strollers too. Certainly here in the Netherlands they are the vehicle of choice, even on narrow cobbled streets, and in trains. Your child will undoubtedly be more comfortable in that for long hours than in the Maclaren.
However they do take up a lot of space and are difficult to manoeuvre in small shops/cafés and when folded they are hard to fit into a car especially with other luggage. Do the wheels come off? that will make it easier to fit in a car.
How flat can your child lie in the Maclaren? I know in some models they can lie nearly flat, whilst in others they can't. If they can lie fairly flat in it it is worth considering.
Also think about how well they shade you child from the sun, which one offers the best protection?
Use the back pack when you can, but also think about the sun then too.

Take the Maclaren. We chose a Combi for London over a three-wheel because the Combi folds into almost nothing. And considering you'll be traveling by car, you'll need the space.

Thanks for the advice. As for your questions, hetismij, the jogging stroller wheels pop off very easily and fits well even with the wheels on into our sedan at home. We will be staying in one place and doing day trips so the space issue with luggage in the car will only really need to be considered between Rome and our apartment in Tuscany where we can unload and store our other luggage. The maclaren and jogging stroller both have sun shades and fully recline and are about the same width. If space is not an issue in the car would you think the jogging stroller would be the better option?

You may seriously want to consider the umbrella stroller for public transportation issues. We ended up on a *very* packed train to Florence and it would have been very hard to find space for any stroller at the time, much less a three-wheeled version. In addition, many places you visit may well be packed and the smaller size of the umbrella stroller would be much easier on everyone if you find yourself in crowds.

--Annie

Yes - but will your car in europe be the size of your sedan at home? What we consider a basic family sedan (Accord or Camry) is a very large car in europe