Stroller in European Cities

[Anonymous]

Taking a several week vacation this summer to several European cities. We plan to walk a ton in places like Paris, Rome and London. Our youngest child will just be 5. Would you bring a stroller or scooter for a kid that age? Or just have them tough it out? It is hard to imagine getting far in a timely manner with a 5 year old all on foot, but also she hasn’t used a stroller in a couple of years. What have others done with kids this age on trips with lots of walking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taking a several week vacation this summer to several European cities. We plan to walk a ton in places like Paris, Rome and London. Our youngest child will just be 5. Would you bring a stroller or scooter for a kid that age? Or just have them tough it out? It is hard to imagine getting far in a timely manner with a 5 year old all on foot, but also she hasn’t used a stroller in a couple of years. What have others done with kids this age on trips with lots of walking?

We took a simple “umbrella stroller” when DD was 4.5 years old. We were very glad we did!

[Anonymous]

I personally hate cheap umbrella strollers .
I wouldn’t take a stroller for a 5yo. Just set reasonable expectations for all of you.

[Anonymous]

Unless your kid has some of kind physical disability, I say no stroller (Parisian here).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid has some of kind physical disability, I say no stroller (Parisian here).

+1 Londoner here. If your child is over the age of 3 they can walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid has some of kind physical disability, I say no stroller (Parisian here).

+1 Londoner here. If your child is over the age of 3 they can walk.

+1 from Amsterdam. A 5 year old should walk. Take lots of breaks, but that is too big for a stroller.

[Anonymous]

Interesting all answers above are from Europeans. As a european, I agree. However, no snark but for an American kid you may want to consider an umbrella stroller. You are asking the question so it seems you already have sn expectation that your kid is not going to be able to walk. My ILs visited us in Europe when their youngest was 5. Frankly it was strange to see them walk around with a very able bodied 5 yr old kid in a stroller but it worked for them, child was happy and not complaining so go for it. If you see you dont need it tou can always fold it

[Anonymous]

I'm American and wouldn't bring a stroller for a 5 year old, though I would for a 4 year old, so it might depend on whether your child is just-turned 5 or almost 6.

It is important to remember, before people get condescending and rude, that OP is asking about a stroller for vacation, not every day use. I live in a city and walk everywhere and so does my kid. But we have normal lives going to work and school and eating at home most nights, with typical bedtimes for a young child, etc.

On vacation, especially to a walkable foreign city, we can spend all day on our feet, sight seeing, exploring museums, etc. We may want to extend the day a bit and go for a walk after dinner, or just spend more time out and about enjoying our surroundings, and not hurry back to our hotel or rental at 6pm for dinner in and normal bedtime. For a young child, that is a lot and they get tired, and having a stroller handy can offer them needed breaks and make it easier on the margins -- walking home after dinner, walking back to the hotel after a few hours at a garden or museum, etc.

Having said that, my almost-6 year old doesn't need a stroller anymore -- we can just take breaks as needed and she doesn't complain too much even when on her feet for long periods of time. But when we were in Montreal when she was just shy of 5, we brought our travel stroller and used it on the two longest days of sightseeing and were glad we had it.

No need to get smug about forcing a very young child to walk all day long instead of giving them a perfectly appropriate break in a stroller now and then.

[Anonymous]

Put your child in a sports camp ahead of your vacation to build up their endurance.

[Anonymous]

American here. We ditched the stroller at 3 and never used one for international trips after that. We walk a lot in everyday life, but we also adjusted our expectations for vacation. Build in breaks. Have a coffee or a drink. Get ice cream and sit and people watch. Hang out at the park or the playground. Bonus is that you see a city in a different way.

[Anonymous]

We brought a stroller for my very big (taller than many 7 year olds) 5 year old on our trip to Europe last summer and this past spring break. We may have looked ridiculous, but it meant that we could go farther and faster, especially b/c my older kids can walk a lot longer.

It also gave him a quiet place to sit when we were on museum tours or in museums that didn't hold his attention. And, it was immensely helpful in the airport when we had to move quickly to get to connecting flights in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm American and wouldn't bring a stroller for a 5 year old, though I would for a 4 year old, so it might depend on whether your child is just-turned 5 or almost 6.

It is important to remember, before people get condescending and rude, that OP is asking about a stroller for vacation, not every day use. I live in a city and walk everywhere and so does my kid. But we have normal lives going to work and school and eating at home most nights, with typical bedtimes for a young child, etc.

On vacation, especially to a walkable foreign city, we can spend all day on our feet, sight seeing, exploring museums, etc. We may want to extend the day a bit and go for a walk after dinner, or just spend more time out and about enjoying our surroundings, and not hurry back to our hotel or rental at 6pm for dinner in and normal bedtime. For a young child, that is a lot and they get tired, and having a stroller handy can offer them needed breaks and make it easier on the margins -- walking home after dinner, walking back to the hotel after a few hours at a garden or museum, etc.

Having said that, my almost-6 year old doesn't need a stroller anymore -- we can just take breaks as needed and she doesn't complain too much even when on her feet for long periods of time. But when we were in Montreal when she was just shy of 5, we brought our travel stroller and used it on the two longest days of sightseeing and were glad we had it.

No need to get smug about forcing a very young child to walk all day long instead of giving them a perfectly appropriate break in a stroller now and then.

The point is that you don't force them to walk all day long. You build in breaks. We don't take the exact same vacations that we did pre-kid. They are still awesome, but they are different.

[Anonymous]

Another Parisian

No stroller and no scooter

If you brought a stroller, you would need a very light and compact one to fold it up in restaurants and navigate narrow sidewalks - and I find those are very hard to push an older, heavier child in. It might be easier in a jogging type stroller, but those are too big for European cities.

I'd also advise against the scooter. My preschooler has one and it has taken a lot of work to teach her how to navigate the crowded sidewalks and busy urban streets - much busier than anyplace in DC. It will just be more stress on you.

[Anonymous]

I am in Europe right now with kids in that age range and I 100% recommend a stroller. We have a babyzen yoyo which is great, even over cobblestones. Fits easily into shops and on busses/metro. Easy collapse for taxis (although some taxis won't even collapse the stroller)

The people who say they live in London/Paris etc an would leave stroller at home--I understand, for daily life, yes, a 3 year old can toddle around the hood.

However, as 07:54 notes, for travel where you have places to go and may walk many more miles than the average person doing their daily routine of life--a stroller is a life-saver for that age.

[Anonymous]

My kids were 7, 5, and 2 when we did Rome. The 2 year old used the stroller.