Baby Jogger City Tour 2 vs A Full-Size Stroller: Which Is Worth It?

Here is the short answer: the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 is worth it if your days involve folding a stroller into a car, squeezing through narrow store aisles, or boarding a plane. A full-size stroller is worth it if your days involve long walks on rough pavement and you never want to lift anything heavier than a diaper bag. I tested both side by side for two months with my 8-month-old daughter, June, and I ended up keeping the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 for everyday errands while borrowing a friend's full-size UPPAbaby Vista for neighborhood walks. That outcome surprised me, because I started out sure I would hate the smaller stroller.

I want to be honest about what I am comparing. The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 is a compact travel stroller that folds small enough to fit in an overhead bin, and it weighs about 14 pounds. The full-size stroller I compared it against is an UPPAbaby Vista, a big, feature-heavy stroller with a huge basket and a genuinely smooth ride. These two are not trying to do the same job, and I think that is exactly why the comparison is useful. Most families end up with one of each. The real question is which one you buy first, and which one you can honestly skip. I will give you my answer, and I will also tell you where the compact stroller genuinely loses. And to be clear, I am not comparing two versions of the same idea. I am comparing a stroller that lives in the trunk and goes everywhere with a stroller that lives in the garage and goes on walks.

	Baby Jogger City Tour 2	Full-Size Stroller (Vista)
Folded size	Small enough for an overhead bin; fits in its carry bag	Big, awkward fold that takes over the trunk
Weight	About 14 pounds, easy to lift one-handed	About 27 pounds with the seat
Ride on rough ground	Bumpy on gravel and cracked sidewalks	Bigger wheels and suspension soak up bumps
Storage basket	Small; a light diaper bag and not much else	Huge; fits a diaper bag plus groceries
Newborn options	Use the Baby Jogger infant car seat	Bassinet plus many infant car seats
Air travel	Carry-on approved; rolls down the aisle	Must be gate-checked
Tight store aisles	Narrow and light; easy to steer one-handed	Wide; struggles between racks
Best for	Travel, errands, small trunks, stairs	Long walks, big shopping trips, newborns

How I Compared the Two

For two months, the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 was my everyday stroller. That meant strip-mall grocery runs, pediatrician visits, a trip to the zoo, and one flight where I carried it onto the plane and lifted it into the overhead bin with one hand. During those same weeks I used the full-size Vista for longer walks on our hilly neighborhood streets and for an afternoon at a park where the path was mostly gravel. I wanted to see which stroller I reached for without thinking, and which one I dreaded loading into the back of our 2019 Honda CR-V. I also timed myself loading each one into the car, which sounds silly, but the difference was the whole story.

I paid attention to the things that matter at this age: how easy the fold was, how much trunk space I got back, whether June stayed comfortable, and how much I could actually carry in the basket. I also watched safety details, like whether the harness stayed snug and whether the stroller felt stable on uneven ground. I checked both manuals before I made up my mind. I want to say plainly that I am just a mom with a baby and a CR-V, not an engineer and not a stroller expert. This is my honest experience over eight weeks, not a spec sheet, and your baby and your routine will be different from mine.

Where the City Tour 2 Wins

The folded size is the whole reason to buy the Baby Jogger City Tour 2. It folds into a package that fits in an overhead bin, and it comes with a carry bag that keeps it clean in the trunk. That matters in our house, where Biscuit, our yellow Lab, sheds on everything. In our 2019 Honda CR-V, with the infant seat behind the passenger seat, the trunk space was already tight. With the full-size stroller, the trunk held the stroller and almost nothing else. With the City Tour 2, I fit the stroller, the diaper bag, and a full load of groceries, and I still had room for the small cooler we keep in the car. That single change made every errand easier, and it meant I stopped leaving the stroller behind because loading it felt like a chore.

The second big win is the weight. At about 14 pounds, I can lift the City Tour 2 with one hand while holding June with the other. That matters at the doctor's office, at the curb, and on the airport shuttle. We live in a two-story house, so every trip out the front door involves stairs, and the lighter stroller made that daily math much easier. The carry bag doubles as a dust cover, so the stroller stays clean between trips. The fold is also genuinely easy: two steps, and it locks on its own. I am not someone who enjoys fiddling with latches, and after the first week I never needed the manual again. For a travel stroller, that is the whole point. If the fold is annoying, you will stop bringing the stroller, and then you are back to carrying a baby everywhere.

Where the Vista Wins

I am not going to pretend the full-size stroller lost every category, because it did not. The ride quality is the biggest difference. The Vista has bigger wheels and real suspension, and on our cracked sidewalks and the gravel path at the park, June stayed settled while the City Tour 2 bumped along noticeably. For a baby who naps on the move, that smooth ride is a genuine advantage, and I felt it every time we crossed a rough patch. The basket is the other big difference. The Vista swallows a diaper bag, a jacket, a water bottle, and a bag of groceries. The City Tour 2 basket fits a small diaper bag and little else. When I ran a single errand, that was fine. When I was out all afternoon, I missed the big basket and planned around it. And on the flight home, I watched three other families gate-check full-size strollers while I walked onto the plane with mine over my shoulder.

The full-size stroller also has more newborn options. The Vista accepts a bassinet, which lets a baby lie flat from day one, and it works with many infant car seats through adapters. The City Tour 2 does not lie flat, so for a newborn you would pair it with the Baby Jogger infant car seat instead. That did not matter for me, because June was six months old when the City Tour 2 arrived and the seat is designed for babies who can sit up on their own. But if you are buying one stroller for a baby who is due soon, the full-size stroller is the more flexible choice for the first few months. That is a real difference, not a small one, and I would not want you to discover it after the return window closes.

What Nobody Tells You About the City Tour 2

The honest tradeoff with a compact stroller is that you give up the plush ride and the giant basket, and I already covered both. But there is a third thing that surprised me: the canopy. The City Tour 2 canopy is smaller than the Vista's, and on sunny afternoon walks I had to reposition it to keep the sun off June's face. It is fine for quick trips, but it is not a shade tent. I solved it with a hat and by timing walks, but I want you to know that before you buy.

The other thing nobody tells you is that a lightweight stroller feels different to push than a heavy one. The City Tour 2 is easier to lift, but it does not track as steadily as the big stroller when you push one-handed while holding a coffee. It is not unsafe, and it never tipped, but you feel the difference. I adjusted my grip and slowed down on curbs. None of this changed my decision, because the lifting was the part I hated most. But it is real, and you deserve the full picture before you spend money.

I ended up keeping the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 for everyday life and borrowing the full-size stroller for long walks. The folded size changed my routine more than the ride quality ever did.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 first if you travel, if your car has a small trunk, if you live in a place with stairs, or if you are the parent who ends up carrying the stroller while the other parent carries the baby. It is also the better first pick if you mostly walk on smooth sidewalks and go in and out of stores all day. The weight and the fold are the features you feel every single time, and they are the ones that decide whether a stroller actually gets used or stays in the garage. For a family like ours, with one baby and a midsize SUV, the compact stroller was the one that made it out of the house.

Buy the full-size stroller first if your baby is a newborn, if you take long walks on rough ground, if you do one big shopping trip on foot each week, or if you want a stroller that can grow into a double later. The Vista in particular does that, and the City Tour 2 does not. If your life is mostly car to sidewalk to car, the full-size stroller is a lot of bulk for a ride you may not notice. If your life is mostly at home and on walking trails, the compact stroller will frustrate you. Be honest about your real routine before you spend money on either one. The right answer depends on where you actually go on a normal Tuesday.

A Note on Safety

I want to say this plainly, because I spent years working in a pediatric dental office and I have seen what happens when parents skip the manual. The City Tour 2 is designed for babies who can sit up on their own, which is why I waited until June was six months old. If you have a newborn, use the Baby Jogger infant car seat with it, and follow the manual for the harness every single time. No stroller prevents falls or injuries on its own. The safest stroller is the one you use correctly, with the harness snug and the brakes set, and that is true for both strollers in this comparison.

The Bottom Line

Neither stroller is wrong. They answer different questions. The Baby Jogger City Tour 2 answers the question, 'How do I get out of the house without dragging a wagon everywhere?' The full-size stroller answers, 'How do I make the long walks as smooth as possible?' For us, the compact stroller earned its place in the trunk, and the full-size stroller stayed at my friend's house for the days I wanted the smoothest ride. If I had to pick just one, I would pick the Baby Jogger City Tour 2. The stroller that is easy to bring is the one that actually gets used, and that has been the true test for our family. Your routine may point the other way, and that is fine. But I would rather have a stroller I lift gladly than one I dread. What I want for you is the same thing I wanted for myself: a stroller you do not have to argue yourself into using.