Toddler in Italy- take the stroller?

Well I would take it, most of all so you can get some rest both at the airport and in Italy.
That way your toddler can also nap, you have a place to store some things, and it's certainly more comfortable to tour a town etc with a stroller.

Thanks for your thoughts. Not sure if it was worth it since more than half of the trip will be spent in places not conducive for strollers? (Cinque terre, Venice, Vatican?) was thinking the hiking backpack might be a good compromise bc we can easily set her down in it - it has a sunshade and she could fall asleep in there. :)

Hi maryelizabeth,

Since you are visiting in the current high season for travelers, I suggest you take a look at -

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma.html

Clicking on each attraction or area will give you a pretty good indication of the level of crowding; especially at places like The Trevi Fountain and The Spanish Steps. St. Peter's Piazza is vast, so you will be okay walking around. Also, at Piazza Navona and Campo de' Fiori, I noted babies were in strollers.

Generally, you will see people with toddlers and babies in strollers. I think it would be better/okay for you and your child.

If you are taking a lot of trains or plan to go hiking, then yes, take along the packable carrier too.

People will not always make room automatically - distractions or whatnot.

The word "Permesso" means "permit me to." You can say, mi permetta di passare

The times I went to Rome were in December. I saw strollers, people with canes, people with wheelchairs, people with mobility scooters. Take into consideration the heavier crowding in August as I noted above.

I vote for backpack, if you are up to the weight. To illustrate my preference, take a video with your iPhone in a crowded place at stroller height. Then film at slightly above eye height. Notice the difference in perspective.

We used Snugglys, then backpacks with our boys. They loved being at eye level with adults.

We never used a stroller at all when our kids were little --- we carried them or they were in a backpack or they walked. So that's my bias. Even in the States, strollers seem so awkward in stores and restaurants and on buses and going up and down stairs. Plus, if a toddler wants to walk, then one parent is with him or her while the other is stuck pushing or guarding the empty stroller.

Our son and daughter-in-law, however, can't imagine not using a stroller, and did bring theirs when we took them to Italy. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but then, I was never dealing with it. It was kind of a pain in both Italian airports because they couldn't take it through the same security line as the rest of us and there was extra waiting around. They had to carry it up flights of stairs to two of the apartments we stayed in. It did not look like fun to get it onto the trains. It did not do well on all the cobblestone streets and many sidewalks were too narrow for it.

On the positive side, it was nice in Italian restaurants because our granddaughter (six months old then) slept through many meals, it held a lot of stuff so we didn't have to carry so much, and except for the security lines it was useful to have in airports and OK in train stations except for all the stairs.

I don't know about people giving you room on the sidewalks --- I've never noticed anybody doing any such thing --- but it is true that Italian families would have a toddler in a stroller rather than a backpack and so perhaps places you go will be able to accommodate a stroller better (like, maybe a big backpack would not be allowed in a museum?)

I noticed many people using backpacks in Venice for obvious reasons. Every time I saw someone, usually 2 to 3 people, trying to carry a stroller up and down the steps on bridges, and there are many, I could only feel their pain in the heat of July.

Personally I would take it so can trade off with back pack. 17 days of carrying an 18 month might be a bit much. We used a stroller extensively until our kids were at least 4. We also used a back pack but mostly hiking,

Rome has some pretty wide, decent sidewalks, which I think you'd want with a stroller. But I also recall a street, probably via del Corso where the side walk was narrow, crowded, and many people were walking in the street, also busy with cars (photo on the Google link is much less crowded, but the strollers are still in the road, for some reason). Florence has a good pedestrian (+taxi) zone but also a number of roads in the old town with barely a sliver of sidewalk. Venice has those stepped bridges and crowded vaporettos. The Cinque Terre has paved main roads but then stairs to reach many parts of each village, plus stairs in train stations and very narrow boarding gangplanks on tourist ferries.

I don't think people will tend to make room when they're in a rush themselves, or find nowhere to step aside to, or are too busy talking/eating gelato/reading map/stopping in the middle of the path to take stuff out of husband's backpack.

I've done both and preferred the stroller. They both have advantages and disadvantages of course. I personally think an 18 mo old would be too heavy to carry on my back all day -- that may not be a concern for you. The trip where we did take a stroller, it was a compact lightweight umbrella stroller. I absolutely wouldn't recommend bringing a regular stroller or even one of the larger umbrella strollers. I found that with the small one, it folded in a second and was very light, so if I needed to go up stairs I could flip it shut and carry both it and my baby up stairs. I did this with a 7 month old though. Good luck and have fun.