Ask Shelly: Best reclining travel stroller for round-the-world trip with baby?

Quinny Zapp X-tra — Could you? Should you? Would you take this travel stroller around the world?

Here is a great question–oh, the itinerary!–originally posted to the Travels with Baby Facebook page that I knew many of you would appreciate seeing here in the blog–especially those of you wanting to chime in with your own recommendations for this mom (your comments are most welcome here!), and those scratching your head also trying to figure out the best lightweight travel stroller for an upcoming trip of your own. Emily of Christchurch, NZ writes:

Hi Guys,
Which is the best stroller for travel that reclines? Not too worried about price. Was looking at a Maclaren or the Uppababy G-Luxe but I don’t think they fully recline. I currently use a mountain buggy in Christchurch New Zealand which I LOVE and have taken it to Australia, Bali and Rarotonga but everyone suggests I take a lightweight stroller on my travels this time as we will be away for a few months? Thoughts?

My baby is 10 months old- we leave in 8 weeks’ time and fly directly to LA. We are staying a few days in Santa Monica, a few days in San Fransisco, a few days in Nappa Valley to checkout your gorgeous wineries! Then we fly to New York for 4 days, from NY we fly to Halifax Canada to send about 10 days with a friend before flying to the UK. We start off near London for a wedding and we will base ourselves there fr a week whilst we day trip o London. After that we only have loose plans. My fiancé is from England however his family all live in Scotland so we will maybe send anther week or so around England beore we head to St Andrews in Scotland for about a month to hang out with family. Hoping to do some Euroean trips from the UK….maybe Paris and the south of France but we did Europe last year so we can’t afford to do too much this time but I am keen to see Paris as an adult (I was 20 when I saw it the first time).

From the UK/Europe we fly home via Dubai for a few days and then Thailand for a month before we ead back to reality. All together we are planning to be away for about 3 months. I have an Ergo baby which I love and a phil and teds traveller porta cot and I am buying the radian car seat as my baby is just about out of her capsule. So I think it’s just the stroller I need to sort?

In my experience, the Maclaren Triumph has enough recline (it was originally rated for 3+ months, but with the same degree of recline it’s been re-marketed as 6+ months to comply with global standards). The UPPAbaby G-Luxe also has this near-full recline and similarly compact umbrella fold, so it may also be a good choice.

However, you might prefer going with the Maclaren Quest Sport, for example, which also has the extension foot rest or Maclaren Techno XT (I’m thinking it has slightly larger, better wheels for the cobblestones, etc.), which both have a full recline.However, the Quinny Zapp X-tra offers all of that, with an even more compact fold when desired (seat slips off and folds in two), and offers the very cool advantage of reversing the seat to face the parent. Anyone reading this with an infant (or bun-in-oven) should note the Zapp X-tra can also be used with the Maxi-Cosi infant car seat (and purchased together as a travel system in some cases).

Uppababy G-luxe stroller — Uppababy G-luxe

If you haven’t my travel stroller recommendations here yet, check out https://travelswithbaby.com/gear/strollers_single.htm for more suggestions.

Another thought is that if you’re waiting until LA for your purchase, you could also RENT the model you think you want there before buying it just to be sure (see California baby gear rentals listed here). But if you know someone selling a Triumph close to home, perhaps you could try the used model first? And maybe save some loot for other souvenirs?

A couple of other Facebook fans shared these comments:

Diane – We travel with the Britax B-Nimble stroller. It has almost a full recline, is light weight and durable.

Bernadine – Got a (Maclaren) Globetrotter but was disappointed with the recline.

How about you?

Which travel strollers are you considering? Do you have a favorite stroller you’d recommend to this mom and others? Do you have a different question for me (start here)?

Thanks, to everyone contributing their thoughts and experiences to this post, and thanks to everyone clicking through this site as they shop to help keep Travels with Baby content flourishing–and for your shares and likes to help others find this information, too. YOUR HELP MAKES A DIFFERENCE!