London with a pram

silly_moo · 5 March 2017 at 11:19PM

Hi all, hope you can advise

We're planning a trip to London in a few months and I'm wondering how easy it is to use the underground, buses and trains in London with a pram. We have Uppababy Vista which is super comfy, easy to navigate and has a huge basket (very handy for travelling) but rather bulky and doesn't fold easily. Would you recommend we buy a smaller stroller for this trip? Baby will be 14 months old when we go.

Thank you

trailingspouse · 5 March 2017 at 11:35PM

It's possible. People live in London and have babies. But taking a pram or even a buggy on the Tube at rush hour won't win you any friends. Could you use a baby carrier instead?

suki1964 · 5 March 2017 at 11:40PM

Easy enough. But I got a wee stroller for my grandson at that age, cost about £35 and it was so much easier to use.

A lot of travel in London is by tube. You use escalators, so much easier to fold a stroller and lift a child, and safer as well

barbarawright · 5 March 2017 at 11:49PM

Perhaps practise on an escalator before you tackle the tube?

retepetsir · 5 March 2017 at 11:59PM

We went last year and just picked the stops which had lifts, which lots of the main ones now do

laurahester · 6 March 2017 at 8:26AM

There is a map if you go through the links here which will show you which stations have step free access suitable for buggies. We plan journeys around that whete possible.
https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/pregnant-women-and-pushchairs

The uppababy is quite bulky which you will certainly struggle to get on and off tubes when busy. Either avoid busy times completely or considet getting a smaller stoller. Maclarans are pretty compact when folded and we also use ours when travelling abroad as go into holds quite well.

hazyjo · 6 March 2017 at 11:31AM

Most times I get on a tube, I am having to ram myself into a crowded carriage - I can barely get me in, let alone a pram! And then there's the getting off onto a crowded platform! The Met or Hammersmith & City lines never seem quite as bad.

If you have to do it, avoid several hours of rush hour (it's not just 8-9am and 5-6pm!).

My friend got a night train home the other night on Piccadilly line and Central Line at after 3am. She had to stand on both.

There are escalators on the underground as said (and some lifts), but those without lifts often have steps too. Never easy with a pram. You can't wait for the crowds to go and join the back as there's another tube coming in by then.

Personally, I would try to stay somewhere on an overhead line rather than a tube, and would prefer to use buses (although they're not easy either). If you're a bit further out, trains would definitely be easier.

Jx

ThinkPink · 6 March 2017 at 11:34AM

We went to London in December when our little boy was 3 months old. We went out and got a stroller that was suitable from birth. I'm glad we took that rather than our big main pushchair as it made things much easier on the tube as it didn't limit which stations we could use. We are going up again in April and again will take the stroller.

rach_k · 6 March 2017 at 12:34PM

I would either use a baby carrier or get a smaller buggy that one person can lift on their own with the child still in it. It's not easy (or particularly fair on others) to squeeze a large pushchair onto a crowded train, and it slows everybody down if it takes two people to get up the stairs or you need to bump up/down steps one at a time.

Out,_Vile_Jelly · 6 March 2017 at 2:21PM

A friend with a baby said she never had any problems travelling across London as "someone always offers to help up the stairs." I always offer to help with these ridiculously heavy tank-prams (and I don't even like children...).

I echo the advice above about rush hour; also if you're not a regular London traveller please avoid dithering at the top/bottom of the stairs, have your ticket/Oyster card ready as you approach the barriers and stand on the right of the escalators!

rach_k · 6 March 2017 at 2:39PM

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

A friend with a baby said she never had any problems travelling across London as "someone always offers to help up the stairs." I always offer to help with these ridiculously heavy tank-prams (and I don't even like children...).

I have found that true too. Londoners seem to have a reputation for being unfriendly and unhelpful but I don't recall ever NOT being asked if I need help up and downstairs with a buggy in London (and often it's the 'very busy-looking city types in suits' who are the ones asking). Up North where I'm from, I think you're more likely to be laughingly asked why the bloody 'ell you thought bringing a big lump of a buggy like that was a good idea! :rotfl: That said, just because people will help doesn't mean you should rely on it or be inconsiderate. Keep the buggy as small as possible, make sure you can get up and downstairs quickly and don't stop others getting where they need to go, when they need to go.

London with a pram

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