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If you're traveling with a baby or a toddler, you're more than a little crazy if you travel without a stroller.
But leave behind the clunky old behemoth you use in every day life and make the trip as smooth as can be with a great travel stroller.
The Colugo Compact Stroller is our top pick because it folds down with one hand in about two seconds, so you never miss a moment while you and the family are on the go.
When you're away from home with your little one, a stroller is more than just a child conveyance system — It's like a mobile command post. A stroller is a tactical nap station, a baby wipe, diaper, snack, and spare clothes supply depot, a foul weather baby bivouac, and, of course, a child conveyance system. Any decent everyday stroller will meet all those metrics what with an adjustable seat, a storage basket, a reliable canopy and often an additional rain cover, and smoothly rolling, easy-to-control wheels down there at the bottom.
Finding a travel stroller that checks all those boxes while still being compact enough to bring along on planes, trains, and automobiles (and subway cars and uh... ocean liners?) is a trickier proposition. Far too many compact, collapsible strollers sacrifice quality and convenience in the name of reduced weight and size. But when you're miles from home, you don't need a stroller that's less effective and reliable than your larger everyday unit. In fact, if anything you need to trust your travel stroller even more than its workaday counterpart, because all the rest of your baby hardware might be across the city, state, or even back across an ocean.
After experiencing a stroller all but fail on my family while we were in Europe on a vacation, I can tell you personally how important it is to have a great travel stroller. Thus I've put together this list of five options, each of which boasts its own specific merits and any of which will likely serve your on-the-go gang just fine.
When choosing the best travel stroller for your baby or toddler, consider the child's size and age, the amount of weight you feel comfortable carrying when the stroller is folded, and the places you'll visit and the ways you'll get there. While all of the strollers on this list fold up easily, roll along smoothly, and enjoy excellent safety ratings, not all are suitable for the same uses and the same ages. But hey, that's why we feature options, right?
Here are the best travel strollers you can buy:
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
The best travel stroller overall
Why you'll love it: The Colugo Compact Stroller folds down with one hand in about two seconds, and it tucks away into a backpack.
Colugo is a newcomer to the baby gear marketplace, but mark my words: Some day, it'll be considered a legacy brand. I say that for three reasons. First, the Colugo Compact Stroller is genuinely one of the most compact folding strollers I've ever used. How compact is it? It folds down small enough to fit into a backpack that comes included with the stroller. Yet when deployed, it's even larger than the average umbrella stroller, approximating the feel and function of a full-sized option.
Second, given its amazingly small size when folded and its ease of control and solid when in use, the Colugo Compact is a great price at just $285. It costs less than half as much as many comparable strollers I've tested out over the years with no appreciable drawbacks or missing features. There's a basket for storage, the seat reclines, the wheels lock reliably, and so on.
And third, the company's commitment to customer service makes the overall Colugo shopping experience a pleasure. Colugo calls itself the "Warby Parker of strollers." The founder and CEO Ted Lobst wanted to make the stroller shopping experience "less overwhelming for parents." Thus Colugo offers an almost unheard of 100-day trial. You can use your Colugo Compact for more than three months and, if you don't like it, you can send it back for a full refund.
Owning one myself, however, I can tell you the chances you sending it back are pretty low. The chances of you popping your Colugo Compact in its backpack, strapping your kid in a car seat, and heading out for an adventure? Pretty high.
And if you want to take it from a few other parents, consider a review left by a mom named Elizabeth who called her family's Colugo "super sturdy and... very easy to use" or a dad named Daniel who said it's "the best compact stroller" he has ever used, loving how it's "compact when folded" and so easy to collapse.
Pros: Folds with one hand, fits into a backpack, excellent customer service
Cons: Not suitable for newborns
The best multi-age travel stroller
Why you'll love it: The Joolz Hub Stroller folds down small enough for travel, yet it's capable enough to serve as the only stroller your kid ever needs.
Let's lead with the only two issues to be found with the Joolz Hub, and I say this as a satisfied owner of this exact stroller. One, it's pretty heavy at about 25 pounds. And two, it's pretty pricey at nearly $700.
That said, it folds down smaller than many strollers and you will certainly get your money's worth. That latter point is true as you can use the Joolz Hub from the very first days of your baby's life through the time when he or she weighs 45 pounds.
The Joolz Hub can be outfitted with a bassinet for newborns, a seat insert adding extra support for babies, and then as a standard stroller with a reclining backrest and adjustable footrest for kids well into their toddler years. It can accommodate multiple brands of car seat, too, when outfitted with connection hardware.
Say, that sounds like many standard-sized strollers out there, doesn't it? Well, when in use, the Hub is the same size as full-sized options. But when folded up, it is small enough to fit in any car's trunk, into an overhead bin on a plane or luggage rack on a train, or to sling over your shoulder using the included carrying strap.
While the Joolz Hub is indeed much heavier than most travel strollers, the fact that it packs down small enough for travel and that it offers the full range of capability of larger strollers you would never travel mitigates the weight to some extent. As noted, the years of potential service make that price easier to digest, too.
A writer from BabyVillage called the Joolz Hub ideal for people who "use a combination of public transport and [their] own car" as it fits in luggage racks or trunks so well, and went on to note the stroller's deft maneuverability.
Pros: Works from newborn through toddler, good storage basket, smooth and stable even on varied terrain
Cons: Heavy, expensive
The best ultra lightweight travel stroller
Why you'll love it: Weighing in at just 14 pounds, the Maxi-Cosi Lara Stroller won't weigh you down as you log the miles during a vacation, holiday travel, or just an epic journey across town.
In case you're not 100% up to speed on stroller weight ratios, let's just get one thing clear: A stroller that weighs 14 pounds yet can safely support kids weighing up to 50 pounds is crazy impressive. The Maxi-Cosi Lara Ultra Compact Stroller is the lightest weight stroller on our list, yet it also has the highest maximum weight limit rating among the hardware reviewed here.
Now, the Lara isn't the most versatile stroller out there. This is much more of a traditional umbrella stroller than, say, the highly versatile Joolz Hub. It has smaller wheels that won't do well on anything but hard surfaces (though a suspension system will absorb some of the jolts and jostles that come with cracks in the sidewalk or the errant twig or pebble) and it's not suitable for use with newborns, but for the family with a child aged six months through the toddler years, it's an overall capable option that's yours for a fair price.
But again, what's the real selling point here? It's that 14-pound weight. The fact that the stroller collapses small enough to be slung over the shoulder doesn't hurt, either. The included parent cup holder and dual storage baskets? Now we're just adding icing to the cake.
A mom named Renee left a review on Bed, Bath & Beyond's website calling the Maxi-Cosi Lara a "traveling family's dream stroller" thanks to how easily it "can fold and unfold," the shoulder carry strap, and "canopy that extends far enough down" to provide full shade.
The product testers from PishPoshBaby noted how the Lara "takes just one hand" to fold down and highlighted the "two baskets for all your stuff."
Pros: Amazingly lightweight, folds down small, dual storage spots
Cons: Not great on varied terrain
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