I am planning a trip to Italy in October for 2 adults and a 2 year old. We prefer countryside and small towns but would really like to spend a few days in Rome before heading to Tuscany. We will be traveling with a 3 wheeled stroller (we love to walk) and car seat (we could rent one but I've heard stories that they can be unreliable). We traveled this way to Germany, Austria and Switzerland a few times already. My concern is getting from the airport to the centre of the city (taxi or train). A taxi would make the most sense with so much luggage and a 2-year old but would a taxi even allow us to install the car seat so we could drive with the baby and would they even consider loading the stroller? Once we were in Rome, I was wondering whether the stroller would be more of a handicap than a help. I'm assuming we wouldn't be able to take it into the colosseum, for example, so what would we do with it then? We'd be renting a car for the rest of our trip. Would we be better to take this gear on the trail back to the airport or somewhere like Orvieto? I don't think we are up to driving in Rome. Or would we just be better off leaving Rome until a future trip when the baby is old enough to walk and rent a car at the airport to go straight to Tuscany? I know there are a lot of questions here. I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone might have that would help.
Posted by
Toledo
653 posts
Chris, I suggest you check the Ron in Rome website for info. I'm not sure about taxis, but thousands of people put strollers onto trains and buses every day in Rome, and Italy is very child-friendly. I'm not sure that you can't take the stroller into the Colosseum, either. It might be a tight fit in some elevators, but if it folds up, it shouldn't be a problem.
Posted by
Westwood, KS, USA
15 posts
Chris, you absolutely will not regret taking a stroller. Consider using a stroller that's fairly portable, something that could be lifted above your head to be stowed away on an upper rack of a train, or fit into the trunk of a car with other luggage. I can't remember of any site, museum, or any other place we visited that wouldn't allow a stroller. And I can't imagine that it would be worth skipping Rome over this issue. We rented car seats with our rental car in Italy. The equipment seemed up to date, clean, reliable, etc. (Come to think of it, the infant car seat we used here at home was made in Italy). I would suggest renting that equipment during the time you have your rental car rather than taking a car seat along.
Posted by
Atlanta
97 posts
We did Rome with a 2 1/2 year old who could walk, no stroller. We had a blast, so I definitely would recommend Rome with the little one. Is your 3 wheel stroller a jogging stroller with bicycle tires? That is a double-edge sword. You need the good tires for the old streets and cobble stones, but those big strollers are not very portable. I once used a small stroller with plastic wheels in Europe and will never do that again. It was basically useless on cobblestone streets. BTW, we took our 2 1/2 year old in a Roman taxi without car seat. I know I'm a bad parent for taking a kid in a taxi without a car seat, but the traffic was so bad that we never got going more than 25mph. We only did a taxi once. I would do train and bus as much as possible. We have been to Europe 4 times with toddlers and always have a good experience using mass transit instead of cars.