Stroller choice is a lot like buying a car; it is very personal. You need to consider where you will use the stroller, how much space you have to carry it and your budget. We’ve tried and traveled with a lot of strollers over the years. Here is our list of TravelingMom favorites. They are the very best travel strollers, with options at both low and high price points.

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Going on a vacation with a little one and without a stroller? No. Never. Wouldn’t do it. The best travel stroller not only carries a tired kiddo (or two). It also carries a whole lot of stuff. There’s the stuff we bring along — like snacks and the diaper bag. And then there’s the stuff we pick up along the way because, well, sometimes it’s easier to just buy that stuffed animal than endure the meltdown.

Bringing the right stroller is the key. For the purposes of this list, our No. 1 concern was weight — how much does the stroller weigh? And how much weight can it hold? The first is important for flying — some airlines have a 20-pound weight restriction on items at gate check — and the other is critical for ensuring the stroller grows with your kiddos.

Then we looked at cost. Our budget strollers are the best strollers we could find that met our minimum needs at the lowest price. The luxury strollers are simply the best we could find, without regard to cost. So put one of those on the gift list you send to that rich aunt who just loooooves to buy stuff for your kids!

Best Compact Strollers

Best Compact Stroller: Budget option

With more than 3900 4.5 star reviews on Amazon, the Summer Infant 3DLite stroller is worth its weight in gold. It has four-position recline, a sizable storage basket and carry strap. It folds compact enough to easily meet most airline weight restrictions for gate check and carry-on.

Best Compact Stroller: Luxury Option

This is a difficult category. There are so many choices. The GB Pockit is a great stroller, but I was looking for more features. Bugaboo has entered the compact travel stroller market with a bang with the Ant. Along with the typically amazing Bugaboo smooth ride, it also offers one of the highest weight limits for this type of stroller, at 50 pounds. That, in my opinion, is very important. It also has a reversible seat, is reclinable, can be wheeled on board the plane, attaches to several car seats, has a bassinet feature, and offers a really nice sibling ride-along attachment accessory. Overall, the Bugaboo Ant is very a travel-friendly airplane stroller.

Best Compact Stroller: Honorable Mention

The GB Pockit All City Stroller is a very good stroller. It was the first stroller company to change the way we think about compact/easy to travel with strollers. The All City Stroller has a decent recline, a five-point harness, and can accommodate children up to 37 pounds.  The All City boasts about its 3-in-1 travel system that is car seat compatible.  A very solid contender!

Best Lightweight Strollers

Best Lightweight Stroller: Budget Option

With more than 1300 4.5 star reviews on Amazon, the Kolcraft Cloud Plus sure offers a lot of bang for the buck. It is a one-hand, easy-folding stroller with a large canopy. It has a reclining seat for children with head and neck control, a roomy storage compartment to stow all of the gear, and will work for children up to 40 lbs.

Best Lightweight Stroller- Luxury Option

UPPAbaby Minu is a relatively new stroller. It is TravelingMom approved, and it has a wide range of features. It is very lightweight, works from birth with a compatible infant car seat, has lots of accessories (yay, cup holder!), and has a one-hand fold. The best part: the weight limit is 50 pounds! Reviews on Amazon include photos of it stored in the overhead bin on an airplane. And the Minu’s underseat storage space is still big enough to fit a diaper bag.

Best Lightweight Stroller: Honorable Mention

One TravelingMom loves her MacLaren Mark II. It can stand up to city streets, even cobblestoned ones, folds compact and was sturdy enough to make it through three kids before she sold it.

Best Lightweight Double Strollers

Best Lightweight Double Stroller: Budget Option

The Baby Trend Lightweight Double Stroller was the obvious choice for me. At 20.7 pounds, and accommodating up to 100 lbs, it has the most options for the lightest weight. It has a really great sun visor, reclining seats, and adjustable leg rests.

Best Lightweight Double Stroller: Luxury Option

This was a difficult category. After changing my mind twice, I finally went with the perennial favorite: Baby Jogger.  The City Tour 2 Double stroller has replaced the much-loved City Mini double, and is even better. Suitable from birth with the infant carry cot bassinet accessory, The City Tour Double can hold kids up to 33 pounds in each seat, and weighs only 23.21 pounds. As with the City Mini baby stroller, the ride will be smooth on rubber tires, it has multi-position leg rests and the visor/sun shade is UPF 50.

Best Lightweight Double Stroller: Honorable Mention

Joovy Twin Groove Ultralight Umbrella Stroller  has a peekaboo window, UPF 50 sun canopy, newborn compatible recline, aluminum frame, five-point safety harness, and swivel front wheels. Why did this stroller get Honorable Mention instead of the best for the budget-priced double? It’s a little overweight. At 26 pounds, it is over the gate-check weight limit for some airlines.

Best Full Size Travel Strollers

Full Size Travel Stroller: Budget Option

The Graco Verb is a great stroller for the price. It weighs less than 20 lbs, has a one-handed fold, can hold children up to 50 pounds, and the reviews report that it is very easy to open and close.

Best Full Size Travel Strollers: Luxury Option

The Bugaboo Donkey is a true engineering marvel. It can expand from a single to a double stroller. It can be the width of a single, or it slightly expands to hold a side luggage basket (that holds 22 pounds), or another seat. Even with the second seat installed, it is still very narrow and easy to maneuver.

Best Full Size Travel Strollers: Honorable Mention

My pick without a doubt is the UPPAbaby. It is one of the best strollers on the market. It is suitable for children from birth (with the carry cot) to 35 pounds, and it is expandable. That means if you have more than one child (or plan to), the only thing you will need to buy is an additional seat. It is a one-handed push over flat terrain (with two toddlers as I tested it), and the single weighs a little bit over 26 pounds. Certainly not the lightest stroller, but a versatile, comfortable everyday stroller, and for travel.

An Unconventional Choice Worth Mentioning

The BOB Gear Revolution Pro Duallie Jogging Stroller is my Disney and jogging go-to stroller for more than one kid. It isn’t light to travel with, at 36 pounds, but it can hold 100 lbs of kids. That means I can put two of my kids in the seats, and one sitting on the food rest in the front.  Probably not what they would recommend, but it’s within the weight limits. This stroller is a beast, and fantastic if you are a runner, or going off roading with its all-terrain wheels. We are flying Southwest to Disney, and Southwest Airlines will happily gate check it for us, after it holds all of our luggage throughout the terminal.