Best Travel Strollers of 2023
Traveling with a baby is hard enough without a big, bulky stroller weighing you down.
The best travel strollers make the experience (a little) easier by being lightweight to carry, quick to fold, and easy to stash in a hotel room, the trunk of a taxi or even the overhead bin on a plane.
While most families prefer a full-size stroller with more features, storage and maneuverability for everyday use, a secondary lightweight stroller may come in handy for more than just travel—especially once your toddler wants to walk more than ride.
While your regular stroller stays parked in the garage for walks and longer outings, you might keep your travel stroller in your trunk for errands and appointments.
In this guide, we'll cover the best travel strollers in multiple categories, looking at the lightest and most compact strollers, the top options for newborns, the best travel strollers compatible with car seats, and more.
Best Travel Strollers Video
See eight of the best strollers for travel in action by watching this video, featuring popular options from Babyzen, Bugaboo, Doona, Silver Cross, UPPAbaby and more.
Best Strollers for Travel
Strolleria's best-selling travel strollers are lightweight and compact while still offering features you'll find on larger strollers, like all-wheel suspension, car seat compatibility and high-quality materials like leatherette handles.
The Babyzen YOYO2, Bugaboo Butterfly and Joolz Aer fold to a size that's carry-on-compatible for many airlines, helping you easily tote your stroller through an airport and sparing it from possible gate-check damage.
Despite being one of the smallest travel strollers, the YOYO2 is also the most versatile: The Connect accessory turns the YOYO2 into a double by adding a second seat and frame to the back of the stroller.
While slightly less compact, the Nuna TRVL and UPPAbaby MINU V2 are still easy to gate-check and fold quickly with one hand (or, in the case of the TRVL, automatically after the push of a button).
Meanwhile, the Doona is the only car seat on wheels that reduces the amount of gear you need for travel during baby's first year.
Strolleria's most popular travel strollers are:
Lightest Travel Strollers
When you're already lugging around suitcases—not to mention a kid—you'll want the stroller to help lighten your load.
The best travel strollers weigh less than 15 pounds, a savings of about 10 pounds compared with a typical full-sized stroller. Plus, travel strollers like the Babyzen YOYO2, Joolz Aer and Bugaboo Butterfly feature an incorporated carry strap so that you can wear the stroller on your shoulder.
The lightest travel stroller carried by Strolleria is the Joolz Aer, at 13.4 pounds, although several additional options—including the Babyzen YOYO2, Silver Cross Jet, Nuna TRVL, Peg-Perego Selfie and Baby Jogger City Tour 2—are only heavier by a matter of ounces.
See What is the Lightest Stroller? for our top 20 lightest strollers.
The lightest travel strollers include:
- Joolz Aer: 13.4 pounds
- Babyzen YOYO2, Nuna TRVL* and Silver Cross Jet (tie): 13.6 pounds
- Peg-Perego Selfie and Baby Jogger City Tour 2 (tie): 14 pounds
- UPPAbaby G-LUXE: 15 pounds
- Bugaboo Butterfly: 16.1 pounds
- UPPAbaby MINU V2: 16.9 pounds
* Note that Nuna weighs the TRVL without the canopy or bumper bar.
Most Compact Travel Strollers
The most compact travel strollers include the Silver Cross Jet and Babyzen YOYO2, which fold tightly enough to fit in the overhead bin on an airplane.
By bringing your stroller onboard the plane, you'll avoid the risk of it getting dirty or damaged during a gate check (provided that the airline allows you to consider your stroller as a carry-on.)
While several brands advertise strollers that fit in the overhead bin, carry-on luggage size restrictions vary by airline. Carry-on dimensions of 22" x 14" x 9" are used by carriers including American, Delta and United.
Your airline may not allow strollers onboard depending on the plane size and capacity, so prepared with a stroller travel bag to protect your stroller from getting dirty or damaged if you're required to check it at the gate.
Strollers that fit in an overhead bin include:
- Baby Jogger City Tour 2: 21.6" x 16.9" x 6.8"
- Babyzen YOYO2: 20" x 17" x 7"
- Bugaboo Butterfly: 21.2 x 17.7" x 9"
- Joolz Aer: 21" x 17.7" x 8.5"
- Silver Cross Jet: 21.6" x 11.8" x 7.1"
Best Travel Strollers for Newborns
Not all travel strollers can be used for your first trips with an infant. Umbrella strollers, for example, don't recline flat enough for a newborn's developing head and neck, and they can't be used with a car seat or bassinet.
The Silver Cross Jet is among the few travel strollers with a reclinable seat that's considered flat enough for a newborn, while most seats are recommended for 3 to 6 months and up.
But several top travel strollers can be paired with an infant car seat, which not only makes the stroller newborn-safe but reduces the amount of gear you'll need to carry. The Doona simplifies things even further—it's a car seat with retractable wheels that convert it into stroller mode.
A few travel strollers, like the Joolz Aer and UPPAbaby MINU, also offer a bassinet attachment that allows your baby to lie flat in a more comfortable and ergonomic position. The Babyzen YOYO2 offers two bassinet choices: the newborn pack, consisting of soft fabrics that fold with the stroller, and the bassinet, which has a hard bottom that allows for indoor use.
The best travel strollers for newborns include:
- Babyzen YOYO2 (using car seat, newborn pack or bassinet)
- Doona
- Joolz Aer (using car seat or bassinet)
- Silver Cross Jet (using car seat or lie-flat seat)
- UPPAbaby MINU V2 (using car seat or UPPAbaby Bassinet with adapters)
Best Travel Strollers Compatible with Car Seats
With the exception of umbrella strollers, most travel strollers are compatible with at least one type of car seat using adapters. Here's a look at the best travel strollers compatible with top car seats.
Travel Strollers Compatible with Baby Jogger City Go
Travel Strollers Compatible with Clek Liing
Travel Strollers Compatible with Cybex Car Seats
Travel Strollers Compatible with Maxi-Cosi Car Seats
Travel Strollers Compatible with Nuna PIPA Car Seats
- Babyzen YOYO2
- Bugaboo Butterfly (also compatible with Bugaboo by Nuna car seats)
- Joolz Aer
- Nuna TRVL
- Silver Cross Jet
- UPPAbaby MINU V2
Travel Strollers Compatible with Peg-Perego Car Seats
Travel Strollers Compatible with UPPAbaby MESA
Best Travel Strollers with Reversible Seats
With the reduced weight and compact size of a travel stroller comes a few trade-offs: Most travel strollers lack features you'd find on a larger stroller, like a reversible seat.
The Cybex Eezy S Twist 2 is unique in that its seat rotates 360 degrees. You can also easily remove the freestanding seat to swap it with a car seat, while other travel strollers require you to remove and reattach fabrics to do so.
As a car seat on wheels, the Doona allows your child to be parent-facing—as is the case when you attach any car seat or bassinet to a stroller.
The best travel strollers that are parent-facing include:
Best Double Travel Strollers
A stroller large enough to hold two kids isn't exactly convenient for travel, but a few options are lighter and more compact than others.
Strolleria's two lightest double strollers are both side-by-side double strollers with a one-piece fold that's easier than other doubles, which can require removing the second seat before folding.
The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 Double and UPPAbaby G-LINK 2 weigh around 22 pounds, compared with many doubles topping 30 pounds. Neither option is compatible with car seats, but the City Tour 2 can accommodate up to two bassinets for newborns.
The Babyzen YOYO2 is the only travel stroller that converts from single to double with the purchase of the Connect frame, which adds a second frame, seat and back wheels to the rear of the main stroller. If one child no longer needs a ride, you can fold the Connect and hang it on the back of the YOYO2 for easy storage.
Best Travel Strollers with Ride-Along Boards
Traveling with a newborn and a toddler? Instead of hauling a double stroller around, consider a travel stroller with a ride-along board attachment.
When your older child calls it quits on walking through the airport, he can hitch a ride on the back of the Babyzen YOYO2, UPPAbaby MINU V2 or Joolz Aer—some of the only travel strollers with a ride-along board accessory.
The boards for the Babyzen YOYO and Joolz Aer include a bicycle seat that's perfect for tired toddlers on the verge of a mid-travel meltdown, while the MINU V2 Piggyback board is positioned to one side so parent and standing child are side by side—giving you more legroom as you're pushing the stroller.
While many strollers are compatible with ride-along boards, few are small enough to be considered a travel stroller. But if you're willing to scale up, the Baby Jogger City Mini or City Mini GT 2, Bugaboo Bee6 and Thule Spring are among the most compact choices compatible with a board.
The best travel strollers with ride-along boards include:
- Baby Jogger City Mini 2 or City Mini GT 2
- Babyzen YOYO2
- Bugaboo Bee6
- Joolz Aer
- Thule Spring
- UPPAbaby MINU V2
Questions?
Strolleria is dedicated to making the baby gear buying experience less overwhelming for parents. If you have more questions about the best travel strollers for 2022, feel free to contact us at 480-442-9433 or customercare@strolleria.com.
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