The Best Travel Strollers for Your Summer Adventures
I love travel strollers. I test strollers as a part of my job, but whenever I’m not testing something new, I switch to these fantastic, lightweight strollers, even if I’m not traveling! They’ve become my go-to everyday strollers since my kid turned 1 and could face forward on our walks. They’re quick to fold and easy to throw in the trunk of my small sedan, and I can carry ’em with one hand while balancing my kid and unlocking the door with the other. They’re great for actual travel too. Whether on a road trip or a plane ride, these lightweight travel strollers are the ones I love most after weeks of testing.
Be sure to get our tips on how to buy a stroller first. If you’re curious about more parenting gear, check out our related guides, including the Best Baby Monitors, Best Breast Pumps, Best Baby Gear, and Best Strollers.
Updated July 2024: We’ve added the Joolz Aer+ with Carrycot as a pick for best travel pram, and a new section about whether strollers can go on planes.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best Overall
Nuna TRVL
WIRED TIRED Remarkably easy to fold. Lightweight. Well-built and sturdy frame. Comes with a travel bag for stroller. Expensive. No drink holders or kiddo snack tray. Not tall enough for older kids. Not compatible with most car seats. No stroller is as easy to fold as the Nuna TRVL. Just the other day a fellow mom asked me what stroller it was, saying she’d never seen a stroller fold like that before. The 14.6-pound Nuna quickly folds forward onto itself into an upright position, sticking the belly bar in the air for you to grab and go, whether you’re in the airport or piling into the car after a day at the zoo. It comes with a travel bag, which you can stuff into the lower storage basket and then use when checking the stroller onto a plane. Speaking of, the storage basket’s sides are a little low, but it was a perfect size to fit my favorite diaper bags.
I really love this stroller for the hand fold. I used to live in an apartment with a staircase between me and the rest of the world (my car! the street! any useable sidewalks!) and having a lightweight, easy-to-fold stroller made getting out of the house or coming home from a walk so much easier. For my next little one, I’m buying Nuna’s car seat and using this system from day one, since Nuna’s TRVL line is compatible with its car seats. It offers a smooth ride even with the lightweight frame, though you do have to look out for big bumps on the sidewalk.
13.6 pounds without handlebar, 14.6 with the handlebar. Comes with a travel bag.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best Travel Pram (and a Great Toddler Stroller Too)
Joolz Aer+ with Carrycot
WIRED TIRED Folds nicely. Smooth ride and sturdy build. Can switch between toddler seat and bassinet (and both are great!). Comes with travel bag for stroller. Has car seat adapters. On the pricey end to get both stroller and bassinet. Not intuitive to switch out toddler seat and bassinet—definitely find a video to help you do it. The Joolz Aer+ on its own looks like a normal travel stroller. It has a solid yet lightweight build and beautiful color choices that give it a luxury look. The storage basket is a little small, and I find it’s easier to stick a diaper bag through the front side of the stroller rather than the back, making it a little more effort to take things in and out since you have to park and walk around the stroller to do so.
But where the Joolz Aer+ shines is the fact that you can swap out the toddler seat for the Joolz Carrycot ($229), transforming it into a travel pram or bassinet stroller. The bassinet can hold babies up to 20 pounds or 30 inches tall. I needed to watch the how-to video to figure out how to swap out the toddler seat for the bassinet, but once the seat is out, the Carrycot is easy to pop into the stroller. The stroller also still folds with the bassinet attached, but I liked popping out the bassinet out and fully compacting the frame. It’s one of the only travel stroller setups you can use from birth without needing car seat attachments. Joolz does sell car seat attachments ($45) for the Aer+, but check the compatibility list to see if it works with your car seat of choice.
I really liked the Joolz Aer+ though. If the toddler seat had a belly bar to hold it by (you can buy one separately for $50), it would be tied with the Nuna TRVL for me.
13.2 pounds with toddler seat, 17.6 pounds with bassinet. Comes with travel bag and bassinet.
