If you ever travel to Seoul with toddlers and plan to bring a stroller, buy a super lightweight stroller. Forget about the twin stroller or the bulky buggy stroller. Thank God we didn't bring our Quinny stroller there. Looking for an elevator in Seoul is like digging for gold. If you ever seen one signboard with the word Elevator, "Congratulations! You have found the gold mine!"
After a long walk from morning to night, your legs are definitely so sore that you do not want to carry the baby stroller with the baby necessities up the stairs. Unfortunately, not all malls or metro come with elevator. Sometimes we have to walk from one end to another end and yet we still couldn't find an elevator. Then, we had to walk all the way back to the right exit and go out by stairs. Furthermore, most of the restaurants or coffee shop are located either at 2nd floor or lower ground floor that you have to use stairs. All I can say is everywhere in Seoul are built with stairs. =/
I was in my 27th weeks pregnancy, with a 2yo and 4yo in hand. Usually I will carry my 2yo down/up the stairs while holding my 4yo's hand. My hubby will carry the stroller together with his backpack filled with all the baby necessities (diapers, bottles, milk, flask, spare clothes etc).
You're not allowed to push your stroller up the escalator for safety purpose and yet not all exits are equipped with elevator.
It was a huge relief for us whenever we see the signboard with the word ELEVATOR.
Our life saver!! Especially when child is fast asleep in the stroller. We saw a Malaysian family encountered the same situation as well. Her older child was already sleeping in the stroller and they couldn't find the elevator. And the mother was quite hesitated to disturb her son's beauty sleep.
They provided this facility for people with wheelchair, but the instructions were all written in Korean and we couldn't understand how to operate it. We've tried many times to press the buttons up and down but nothing happens. We actually saw a Thailand couple carried the father who was in the wheelchair all the way up the stairs.
While waiting for the train, always look for this sign at the waiting door. There is a dedicated space in the train for you to park your stroller/wheelchair. In fact, we hardly see Koreans pushing strollers around with their kids. Most of them babywear their child.
This was our experience traveling in Seoul with a stroller. It was difficult and troublesome at times, sometimes we just think of ditching the stroller away. But, it comes in handy when the kids need to nap and we get to free our hands by hanging our bags/shopping bags on the stroller. If everywhere in Seoul does not come with stairs and are equipped with elevator, this will definitely be an awesome place to travel to. I just fall in love with the cold weather here. And all the lovely kimchi stew and lotte biscuits. =D
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