The Best Lightweight Umbrella Strollers to Make Traveling a Breeze

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When I had my son 15 years ago, umbrella strollers were all the rage. Maclaren strollers (no longer available in the U.S.) were right up there with Bugaboo for the best baby strollers on New York City streets. As the years have passed, so has the era of the umbrella stroller — or so I thought. While there certainly are nowhere near as many umbrella strollers available as there were in their heyday, parents are still on the hunt for these handy, easy-to-fold strollers. So, I tested a dozen models out there to find the best lightweight umbrella strollers and found just five worthy of recommendation.

Best Umbrella Strollers

• Best Overall: UppaBaby Minu V2

• Best Budget: Summer Infant 3D Lite

• Best Fold: Cybex Libelle

• Best Age Range: Joovy Kooper Lightweight

• Best Bassinet Ready: Colugo Compact

Why You Need an Umbrella Stroller

The best lightweight umbrella strollers make fantastic travel gifts for families (right up there with a new set of hard shell luggage) because they minimize a lot of stress. Family going on a fun Disney vacay? Get them one of these. After all, something that turns into a compact square is easier to stash than something that folds up into a rather large umbrella. They're also much better for travel as many fit in an overhead compartment. Not to mention, they've been vastly improved over the years, according to Jenn Mullins, UPPAbaby VP of Product Marketing, maker of our Best Overall pick.

"We expanded our stroller offering to include a travel-friendly stroller as we found an increase of parents traveling more than ever with their kids," Mullins says. "This includes multi-generational trips with grandparents and in-laws ... We strive to provide solutions for families in the best way possible based on their lifestyle choices. This resulted in developing the Minu, a compact-folding stroller that is lightweight but doesn’t compromise on essential features." As someone who has parents who have used both their Vista and their Minu, the Minu is drastically easier for older folx to maneuver.

After this innovation, other brands started following the trend of easy-traveling strollers that work with the same premise of light and simple to fold but improve upon the original umbrella strollers.

How We Chose

I put each stroller on this list to the test. I walked at least 6 miles straight and then completed four more hours of testing. I checked out different terrains, in different weather, with different children. I tested with a 1-year-old, an 18-month-old, and a 3-year-old. Some of the strollers I tested, such as the Unilove On-The-Go, were OK for younger kids but impossible for older toddlers. And the majority of the cheaper umbrella strollers (the ones you see hanging on racks at big box stores for $20) weren't comfortable for the rider or the person pushing it, making you hunch over and making the little passenger grumpy for lack of cushion or support. They're not adjustable in any way, and there's no meaningful sun protection. Unfortunately, the two double strollers I tested were bad all around, so these are all single models.

You may be wondering, with so many lightweight strollers such as the Babyzen Yoyo and the Bugaboo Butterfly, what makes these different? The best lightweight umbrella strollers on this list are the easiest to fold. Others take a bit of learning, and even after you know how to do it, in a stressful situation, it might still vex you. These top-picked umbrella strollers won't do that because they're actually easier to fold than a rain umbrella. Seriously.

What To Consider

The best lightweight umbrella strollers theoretically are feather-like and fold like an umbrella. Some take it a step further and make the fold even more compact, and that's great. But the main points you want to consider are: weight limits, folding mechanism, adjustability, and canopy.

• Weight Limits: Most of the best lightweight umbrella strollers have about a 50-pound weight limit and usually a 10- or so-pound limit for the cargo space. Pay attention to these, as it's easy to throw way more than you should underneath.

• Folding Mechanism: If you can't fold or unfold the model in a matter of seconds, skip it because it does not pass the test as an umbrella stroller. Strollers on this list fold typically collapse sideways into a long "umbrella" shape, fold themselves into a tight package, often with the wheels folding in, or fold down flat, with all the main components shrinking significantly. The ease with which they do this is crucial, and all of the strollers on our list are a cinch.

• Adjustability: Does the seat recline at all? Can the handles be raised or moved? The former is essential for the comfort of the rider; the latter is essential for taller caregivers.

• Canopy: All of the strollers on this list have a UPF 50+ rated canopy because the sun is no joke.

If you want the most reliable, best lightweight umbrella strollers, check out my expert picks below.

MINU V2 Stroller

UppaBaby, like Colugo, is one of my favorite brands. They make my favorite double stroller, hands down. The Minu V2 is everything you'd expect in the best lightweight umbrella strollers from the high-end baby manufacturer. The finishings are superb. The 5-point no-rethread harness is the best of the bunch. It's shockingly easy to fold.

I strolled all day with this at a Renaissance fair, and through the cotton candy and apple-dumpling eating and the sheep-petting wench fest of an experience, the stroller was the least of my concerns. (The biggest concern, of course, being the sheep poop and paranoia about my costume, which kept popping open.)

My little passenger slept through a huge chunk of the day, in her 16th Century peasant finery. thanks to the nearly lay-flat recline, elevated calf rest, and gigantic UPF 50+ rated vented canopy.

Mullins points out a very stellar feature of the Minu V2, which is the carrying strap that they installed that makes it simple to sling around when you're not pushing it.

She did manage to get caramel sauce — everywhere — but even though the stroller is spot-clean only, it wasn't a hard cleanup because UppaBaby makes sure there are minimal nooks and few crannies.

Also, I could store a ton of our pilfered goods (read: pricey souvenirs), underneath this stroller because the carrying basket has a whopping 25-pound load capacity.

3Dlite+ Convenience Stroller

This bad boy is an affordable, true umbrella stroller with a carrying strap and everything. It acts very much like how you would think any of the best lightweight umbrella strollers on the market would. It folds up longways, has two handles instead of one, and you can hang it just about anywhere.

While it's certainly not the plushest stroller on this list — it's fairly utilitarian, made to go for quick jaunts or somewhere you'll have to lift and carry the stroller a lot like airports, metro stations, and even Disney — it's easier than you might think to maneuver.

It's easy to push, but if you're over 6-feet tall, I'd skip, because the handles would be too low. The wheels are actually pretty great, easy to turn over most surfaces, which surprised the heck out of me. Plus, the basket and parent organizer are nice touches.

The canopy is not the biggest on this list, but it is bigger than other lower-priced umbrella strollers, and it has a peekaboo window for the person pushing the stroller.

It's so light and folds so slim, I love the idea of taking this to ball games and concerts because it's slim and maneuverable through a crowd.

Libelle 2 Ultra Stroller

I need to start this review by telling you that this stroller arrives at your home fully assembled. You literally just pull it out of the box, cut off the plastic and the tags, turn off the brake, and it's ready to go. When I found that out, I think I may have heard angels singing and the room suddenly smelled of cotton candy and lit up with starfire. Or I was having a shock-induced stroke. Could be either. It comes with car seat adapters that can be used with Cybex infant car seats, and they are installed and removed with ease.

The stroller doesn't have a lie-flat recline, but there's enough of an easy recline that I found it didn't make a huge difference in comfort for the child.

This stroller looks and feels like a very lightweight umbrella stroller, but folds up like a neat little package that fits easily into the overhead compartment of an airplane. The wheels are small, solid, and sturdy, perfect for city streets, airports, malls, and sidewalks. They have a little bit of an issue with New York City's ancient cobblestone paths, but everything else — even grass — wasn't a problem.

The handles have buttons on the end, sort of like a video game joystick, that when depressed, collapses the stroller. It's oddly very satisfying. After you fold it down once, it folds in on itself again in the opposite direction, locking in place with a simple plastic mechanism. It's simply tiny when folded. (When the box arrives at your home, you'll be really worried you ordered the wrong thing.)

The handles themselves are wrapped in a very spongy foam material that gives your hands a ton of cushion without making them sweaty. They are easy to clean off, and the fabrics on the seat are machine washable.

I was also super impressed with the cargo compartment, which has plenty of space for a purse and a diaper bag.

Kooper Lightweight Baby Stroller

A few years ago, Joovy had a true umbrella stroller called the "Groove." That went out of production, sadly, but they introduced the Kooper and Kooper at the same time. This is one of the best lightweight umbrella strollers around because of its compact fold, and high-end finishes. Having had the ability to test both, I miss how light the Groove was, but that's the only bit I prefer. Overall, the Kooper Lightweight is a superior stroller.

It has a one-handed fold, a near-flat recline, 5-point harness, and even an adjustable calf rest. Standard features that I'm fairly delighted with.

Joovy's superpower on this model is the fact that it has a tray that folds with it. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but giving your kid a place to hold their drinks and crackers is wonderful. It can make the difference between a cranky trip and an enjoyable trip.

When I was testing, I treated my rider to shawarma (favorite weird food to love for a toddler, but maybe he wants to get swole), and I could tear little bits of lamb and put them right on the easy-to-clean tray for him to munch. The convenience extends to the parents as well with a little parent organizer on the back for your phone, wallet, keys, and snacks you're hiding from your shawarma-eating toddler.

There is a car seat adaptor for this model, so you can use it from birth to three years old or 55 pounds, making it a solid choice for an everyday stroller. The seat fabric is machine washable and the tray is dishwasher safe on the top rack.

Compact Stroller

So far, everything I've tested from Colugo has been really incredible. Their carrier is one of our best baby carriers overall, and now that it's made one of the best lightweight umbrella strollers around, my mind is blown in the best way. It has a simple two-step fold that takes less than 5 seconds, folding it up to a compact 24 by 17 by 10-inch package. It fits in most standard duffle bags but comes with its own TSA-friendly travel bag.

That's not even the most impressive thing about this stroller. The real star feature is the seat's adjustability. It lays flat for nap time on the go, and the memory foam seat cannot be topped in this category. There is an adjustable calf support that raises the feet and increases the comfort of the rider greatly.

I didn't love that the handle was not telescoping, but overall, it was comfortable for me to push, and I am about 6 feet tall. The basket beneath is even fairly easy for me to get to, but it does have a lightweight limit like most umbrella strollers at 10 pounds.

When I was pushing this stroller through the park, my tiny testing buddy decided that would be a wonderful time to forget the fact that he is a potty-trained child, and he had a messy accident. Because the cover is machine-washable, this was not a big deal. His shorts, on the other hand, were lost to the garbage can.

The one-handed, compact fold is a boon for travelers, as it fits in an overhead bin of a plane, meaning you can stroll your baby right up to the gate.

It does have an optional baby kit with a bassinet, so if you want to make this your always-and-everyday stroller, it's possible to do so. Otherwise, it's good for kids who can sit unassisted. The five-point harness in the seat is designed for that age.

This was formerly our Best Overall pick. However, after over a year of testing side-by-side with the Minu, the Colugo shows wear much more prominently than the Minu. It has a bit of sun damage, the fabrics are wearing down to that "shiny" stage, and the handle gets gunky. However, it's still a helluva stroller.

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