310
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #80,733 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
Great for European City Travel
We've gone through tons and tons of umbrella strollers and the Mountain Buggy is the one I've found to be the most practical for our family. We bought this stroller mainly for international air travel - and only use it as our travel stroller. I agree with early reviews that the cons are: No cup holder and cannot fold one handed. However, what I truly love about this stroller is how sturdy it is, how the seat reclines (for naps) and how compact you can fold it. Often while traveling we have short layovers in other countries. Waiting for a stroller at GateCheck always slows us down and adds a whole other level of stress. Getting through customs after waiting for the stupid stroller after the whole plane has deplaned is nerve wracking. It's been a life saver having a stroller that folds small enough to bring on the plane with us so that we're not on the other end holding our babies and waiting for the stroller. Even on small planes, we were able to fit it under the seat in front of us. On large plans it fits in the overhead.
Now with two small children (10m and 3yrs), our general go-to is our UppaBaby Double Stroller. But during our last trip to Florence, with their narrow sidewalks and small cobble stone streets, we decided to buy a second Mountain Buggy. My wife and I were traveling together so each of us would take one of the strollers and one of the kids. It worked out AWESOME. The kids were able to nap in the strollers, and we didn't feel like we had to throw away our umbrella stroller after 9 days of cobble stone pounding. We walked a solid 7-10 miles each day using these and they're still functioning. We may eventually need to replace the wheels, but that's a small price to pay for the convenience of an umbrella stroller that works the way you need it. The strollers folded up small enough to bring into the tiny restaurants, and we had very little trouble getting them into any/all of the tiny lifts. We were able to fit a small backpack under each stroller and a large bottle of water as well as any trinkets and souvenirs we bought. The one thing that I would say was a bit of a problem is that our 10 month old's head would hit the stroller frame on the cobble streets if he was fully inclined. We amended this by reclining his seat a bit during bumpy areas, but it was still kind of annoying.
All in all we love this stroller for european city travel.
Two tips we had to figure out when we first flew with it:
1. Unless the seat is fully raised, it will not close right.
2. When folded, there is a strap sewn around the handle bar that you velcro around the carrying bar. This prevents the stroller from opening on you when folded. If this is not secured, the top part of the stroller will open if the canopy is pulled on.
Pros:
Folds up small - fits under most airline seats.
Reclines nearly flat.
5 point harness.
Narrow frame good for narrow sidewalks and doors.
Can be pushed one handed easily.
Lots of room between seat and canopy (we have pretty tall children).
Wheels can be replaced/removed.
Basket is adequate for an umbral stroller.
Large canopy.
Handle bar height is higher than most umbrella strollers (I'm 6'3" - comfortable for me. My wife is 5'6" also comfortable for her) and neither of us regularly are kicking the back of the stroller.
Cons:
No cup holder or basket near handle bars.
Cannot fold one handed - have to put child down to fold and unfold.
July 2016 · Baby Products · verified purchase