Strollers at sights in Rome and Florence

I would not recommend a stroller in the Vatican museums. Those museums are packed wall to wall with people looking at the exhibits and not where they're going. The odds of them tripping over the stroller are quite high and the child could get hurt. I would skip the Vatican museums with a small child and do it on another trip.

If you enter vatican museums crowd pictures into the google search box you'll be able to scroll through a ton of photos and see what the crowds are like. There are some really good ones of the hallways inside the museums.

Donna

I saw no kids in strollers in any of the museums you listed. Google them for more info on visiting to be sure.

I don't think I would bother taking a stroller to Europe at all! All those cobbled streets are a nightmare even with wheeled luggage, the poor kid might end up with shaken baby syndrome. Taking trains places you'll have to deal with stairs a lot, and many hotels don't have elevators (certainly not the hotels I can afford).

I did some foreign travel when my youngest was 8 months old to visit relatives. The stroller was only useful at the airport, and for mealtimes I'd sit her in it since we didn't bring along any sort of highchair or car seat.

Come on, just tell that little girl to man up and learn to walk on her own two feet. She's still got a few weeks to do that, and we all need to do some things to prepare to travel. Be sure she packs light, as she will need to be able to carry her own stuff. Some crash toilet training wouldn't hurt either, but make sure she knows to carry some toilet paper with her when out and about. After the trip, maybe you can post one of those pictures of her posing with one of the gladiators outside the Colosseum. Have a great!

I would use an alternate carrying system. I see families at train and bus stops struggling with strollers on stairs all the time - it takes practice and to me it looks like child endangerment. A stroller might be fine on the streets (again, I see lots of them), but stairs and closed-in places might be a big headache. If the stroller folds up, that might work while someone carries the baby.

I can't imagine pushing a stroller in Rome - either from the point of view of the child or the stroller pusher - on the cobble stones. They are everywhere throughout the city, and the sidewalks if there are any are nowhere near level or smooth.

I think that Zoe's idea is best so far.

So, there was a big long post on this topic on TripAdvisor 3 years ago. And here's the FAQ from the Vatican on the subject. Check it out. The Pope may be infallible, but clearly the FAQ author is not. :)

Pamela, the official vatican website is a .va site not a .com website. That is a commercial site. Anyway, you can certainly take a stroller into the museums but it's not a good idea with all of the people inside. It's a tripping hazard and could even get knocked over with the mass of people who aren't watching where they're going.

Donna

No wonder they made a mistake.... :)

Thanks everyone for posting your ideas. Some of you are so funny! I had a conversation with my son and I think they will also bring a backpack type carrier for her too. They say on the "official" Vatican website that "push chairs " are allowed, but I think that means wheelchairs. There are enough of us to help carry luggage, etc. when going up and down the stairs/elevators, and our hotels have elevators (yes, they aren't cheap!). But, all of you have such great insight, I really appreciate it. I'm sure I will be posting more questions soon. We have been to both Florence and Rome once before, but only briefly, on a cruise. I remember it being crowded, but not super crowded, but maybe that is from my perceptive - we are from New York- everything is packed here!

Well, remember that August is high season so the crowds (and heat) will be high. Just book some of the more crowded sites and you'll be fine.

Donna

Push chairs may mean strollers. I hear they are called that in some places.

I don't know about strollers in the Vatican Museum but they do have night time hours in August. The hours on
Friday nights are from 7 until 11. We have done this and it was very nice and not too crowded. You cannot buy a skip the line ticket yet but check later in the month. We went directly to the Sistine Chapel at the opening time and there were very few people there. We then backtracked to see other parts of the museum (not all rooms are open.)

We were in Rome just before Christmas 2012, and throughout town, especially in the Trastevere neighborhood, strollers were commonplace outside, but I don't recall seeing many indoors. Probably due to the cobbles, the strollers looked like military hardware, with knobby tires and heavy-duty frames - like a Hummer for infants. However, there were also a lot of dog droppings on the sidewalks and streets, as many people didn't clean up after their pets, so stroller wheels and tires likely collected a lot of "residue." Toting your kids may be more sanitary than pushing them, in addition to avoiding hassles at sights!

I'm one of the few die-hards still carrying a backpack as my main luggage. Even though I end up carrying it way more than necessary, I find it more convenient with crowds, cobblestones, stairs, puddles, and other navigational hazards. Although the child will be with you all day, the same reasoning might apply. Hopefully, she doesn't weigh more than 30 wiggly pounds. Florence has a pedestrian-only area, but not always great sidewalks outside that area, and I had the distinct impression that sidewalks were only used by dog-walkers. At http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/kids-in-europe, see also some books and web links recommended on the right-hand sidebar.