In Italy, it can be cobblestones, stairs in the middle of streets, scooters parked on the sidewalks, cars parked bumper-to-bumper in the crosswalks, gravel paths, and all of the above.

Here we go again. Young children on European trips? In my opinion the only reasons to travel with a young child like that is that is to move or visit family. I would never take a vacation with a 4 month old to Europe. When you have children, there are things you need to put on hold for awhile until they are portable. My minimu age for that sort of travel would be 4, but I would advise waiting even later.

Young children are best kept on a schedule. You disrupt that schedule, there will be nothing but aggravation and hassle.

We have these threads from time to time and I always wonder if they are "plants" to start a big fuss.

When mine were young, we generally went to a local beach for 2 weeks--and the loading of the car felt as though we were going to Mount Everest with all the crap we needed to take. I first took mine to Europe in 1990 when they were 8 and 10. We went on a home exchange to England (suburb near Windsor).