The Best Travel Stroller for Two Kids

We recently took our almost 2 year old and almost 4 year old to Europe for 2 weeks. Traveling with kids through Europe can seem daunting. I knew that navigating narrow cobbled streets, crowded markets, or the public transport system with a couple kids in tow could be hard. I wanted a compact stroller that could carry both of my children, and I think we found the best travel stroller for two kids.

I ended up choosing Thule Shine Stroller with the Rider Board attachment. Here’s why the Thule Shine is an excellent choice for traveling around Europe with kids and why we chose this particular set up. And you can check out this post to see What We Keep In Our Travel Stroller for the day in Europe!

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My Favorite features of the Thule SHine Travel Stroller

1. Compact and Lightweight Design

European streets, particularly in old towns, can be narrow and winding. The Thule Shine is compact and easy to push around tight corners and through bustling streets. It also fit well on metro trains and in smaller eating areas.

It’s not the lightest weight stroller out there, but has some features that made the extra weight and size worth it to me to use for 2 kids.

Features I was looking for

The seat can be switched from forward facing to rear facing
The handle bar length is adjustable which made it more comfortable for me and my husband to push (and so we weren’t stepping on the rider board)
The storage basket underneath is a little larger than other strollers I’ve used

These features were all essential in this being used as a “double” stroller for both of our kids to ride on with the attached rider board which I will talk more about.

The stroller was just barely too wide to go through a lot of the metro entries (where you put your ticket in and go through). But it wasn’t an issue because they have doors for strollers and wheel chairs. In Paris you just push a button and an attendant will open it for you. In New York, the doors were unlocked and an alarm would go off. It’s allowed to go through these, it’s just to make sure people aren’t going through without a ticket.

2. Easy One Hand Fold

Moving between destinations means constant packing and unpacking. The Thule Shine can be folded with one hand easily which was nice when we had to fold it up for the airplane, going up the Eiffel tower and through some security check points. It collapses to a travel-friendly size, making it easy to carry or stow away.

The handle bar length was also easy to adjust with one hand which I didn’t really think of as a big bonus until we were hopping on and off a ton of crowded busses and metros and it was nice to quickly shorten the handle bar length so the stroller wasn’t pushing into anyone or so I could maneuver it into a tight space.

4. Comfortable for Kids

Traveling can be tiring for kids. The Thule Shine ensures that they have a comfortable seat with adequate padding and multiple recline positions. The adjustable canopy came down very far so even when my kids were leaning back, the sun was still out of their eyes, and I love the peek-a-boo window that lets me keep an eye on my child.

The seat is easy to recline with a little handle on the back of the seat. It doesn’t recline completely flat, but pretty close and my kids both took long naps in the stroller very comfortably. I also love how the foot rest area was adjustable.

5. Rugged Design

While the Thule Shine looks really nice and aesthetic, it also has all wheel suspension and is built to handle a lot which I really appreciated. We pushed it over lots of cobblestone streets, grass, dirt, and hills.

Why I Don’t Recommend a double Wide stroller For Traveling

Honestly, you couldn’t pay me to bring a double wide stroller to Europe. The streets and sidewalks are too narrow, we ride a lot of public transportation, and shops and oftentimes doorways are too small for a double stroller to even fit. We didn’t want to have to constantly be folding up our stroller and having it be more of a hassle than it was worth.

Our older toddler enjoys walking a lot so I knew he would only be riding on the stroller about half as much as our youngest would be. So I really just needed a solution to carry both kids for shorts amount of time.

We also brought along our Ergobaby soft carrier so that if my older kid really wanted to ride in the stroller, I could wear my baby or we could even carry him in the carrier as well.

Rider Board Attachment for our TRavel Stroller

The Rider Board was the perfect solution to turn our Thule Shine Single stroller into a double stroller. It clipped on easily and when not in use, you just fold it up and secure it with the thick elastic Thule provides in the box. My toddler loved to stand on the board while we pushed him and could easily see over the top of the stroller (he is almost 4 but short for his age).

We also found that he loved to sit on the rider board with his legs either resting on the bar it was attached to or stretched out into the basket. We laid the soft carrier on his lap (you could also use a jacket) and he played with his mini magnetic blocks in his lap.

I think the best part about the rider board was that he could lay underneath the stroller, in the storage basket, with his legs stretched out onto the rider board. This was especially nice when he was really tired and wanted to lay out but our baby was already in the stroller. I can’t find the max weight capacity for the underneath storage, but it didn’t seem to strain the basket at all. (Try this at your own risk 😉)

One thing to note, I have tried a different stroller with the rider board attachment and couldn’t stand it because we kept stepping on the board and it wasn’t comfortable at all to push. The Thule Shine’s handle bar is adjustable, so if you extend it out all the way, you walk back further so you don’t step on the board. I am short (5’3) and didn’t have any issues pushing it while my toddler rode.