Stroller in Europe

[KeroTravel]

We will be brining our stroller on our West Med cruise April 2023 for our almost 4 year old.  He can walk for long stretches of time, but for European port days, he will definitely want to sit, when he's ready or if he requires a middle of the day nap.  I've read that a stroller won't be allowed, or can't fit in many establishments; like restaurants etc. and will need to be left outside un-attended.  Has anyone ever had their stroller stolen?  Would it be necessary to bring some sort of bike lock for the wheels to prevent theft, or am I just being paranoid?  It's a pretty lightweight stroller so I suppose even with a lock someone could just pick it up and be on their way.  

 

   

[carlmm]

Not saying there are no places like that, but as European I would say this is not the standard.

When you talk about countries like Spain and Italy, these are very children friendly. There will not be space next to every table but in general it should be no problem.

[megdel313]

We actually just returned from a europe cruise with our 4 year old. We took our stroller and didn't have a problem taking it to restaurants, in trains, the metro, etc so I'd say take the stroller! Our daughter doesn't usually go in a stroller much anymore at home, but with really walking intensive days, I don't think we could have made it without having a stroller along.

 

In regards to locking up a stroller, I didn't see anywhere outside restaurants, etc to leave strollers so I'd just make sure yours is small enough that you can fold it and take it inside? Some of the places we ate at we probably could have left it open beside our table, but that might have limited our options of where we could eat.

 

I just posted about our recent cruise with our daughter here. Maybe there will be some info there to help you with planning your spring cruise!

[Onessa]

We bought a collapsible travel stroller for our then 4YO for our Italian land/cruise vacation.  We spent considerable time "test strolling" - both husband and I are tall - travel strollers tend to be too short, and also to make certain it was comfortable for our DD. 

 

It travelled very easily, and we could fold it easily for transport in taxi/bus, storage in hotel rooms/state room, could fold up when in restaurants. Worked like a charm.

 

[KeroTravel]

We currently use the Joovy Kooper at home which we find lightweight (I can carry it with one hand), very easy to use and when folded is pretty small (can stand upright and narrow-ish when folded)  It doesn't have the "chunkiest" wheels, but we're confident it will be fine for Europe.  It reclines, has a decent size shade, and a snack tray.  Don't really want to have to buy something else for 10 days overseas.