It's no secret that the UPPAbaby VISTA has been (and still is!) one of the most popular pram and pushchairs of the last decade. We've been using it with their car seat to put it to the test as a travel system.
Quick Summary: The UPPAbaby VISTA travel system ticks every box for parents wanting a stylish system whilst still offering practicality in abundance.
Whats good?
- Ease of use
- Huge basket space
- Great sun coverage from hoods on both seat and carrycot
- Can easily be adapted to carry two children with additional accessories
- Car seat extremely easy to install
Whats not so good?
- Two-handed fold operation
It’s no secret that the UPPAbaby VISTA has been (and still is!) one of the most popular pram and pushchairs of the last decade. We’ve been using it with the new UPPAbaby MESA i-SIZE infant car seat to put it to the test as a travel system.
Chassis
The first thing you notice when unpacking the box of the UPPAbaby VISTA is the attention to detail, right from the very start. All of the information you need is carefully placed in a neat and recognisable file right in front of your eyes as soon as you open the lid. Below the lovely welcome pack is the neatly packaged seat and carrycot in a handy storage bag, and the classy satin aluminium frame along with the neatly boxed wheels.
Setting up the VISTA was an easy affair, simply clicking on the wheels and popping the carrycot up and onto the frame.
The wheels are a huge indicator of the quality of the VISTA as a whole. They are sturdy but streamlined and managed to tackle with ease every surface they were faced with. The press-buttons in the centre of the back wheels made them really easy to pop on and off if they got dirty during dog walks and the front wheels popped off just as easily too. The front wheels swivel smoothly for shopping centres but could be locked when we needed to tackle bumpier tracks through the woods. The VISTA wheels are one of the features that make this pushchair a true all-rounder of the pram world.
The brake is operated with a foot lever at the back of the right-hand wheel and is simple to touch on and off with your toes.
The VISTA also offers an adjustable handlebar which came in really handy not only when grandparents and parents of different heights needed to change it but also when our toddler wanted a go at pushing too! The handlebar is very comfortable in the palm of your hand, thanks to the streamlined circumference and the fact it is covered in real leather. This leather covering looks so smart and the area of the handlebar that could potentially touch the ground when the chassis is folded is protected with robust rubber pads – great attention to detail again from UPPAbaby. We loved the thought of real leather ageing as our family aged too. The leather will get smoother and darker over time with use, which gives a really nostalgic feel to the pushchair, especially if you go on to use it for your second and even third child.
If you aren’t yet a parent, you will have been told that with a baby comes a lot of stuff! And if you are a parent, you will know that you need bags of space to store all of your family’s belongings.
We can confirm that the UPPAbaby VISTA travel system has the biggest pushchair basket that we have ever tested here at PX HQ. We were always able to fit our changing bag, picnic blanket, spare coats and wellies in the bottom of the basket and we were often asked to carry extras that our friends weren’t able to fit in their baskets too!
Seating Options
In the box of the VISTA you receive the seat unit and carrycot, so everything you need ready for your new arrival to travel comfortably from birth. If you purchase the MESA i-SIZE infant car seat then you are able to click the car seat from the car onto the pushchair frame all without waking baby.
Your infant car seat and pushchair are two of the most important purchases you will make for your newborn. When we unpacked the MESA i-SIZE car seat we were taken straight away with the gorgeous fabrics and quality of the finish on the seat. There certainly seemed to be just as much attention to detail here as on the pushchair seat. The MESA i-SIZE is, as the name suggests, an i-Size seat when used with the MESA i-SIZE base, which means that as well as meeting the most up-to-date testing standards, it is super-easy to install correctly. The i-SIZE base has both light and sound indicators at the front that clearly show which parts of the seat are installed correctly or incorrectly with green or red lights so there was no guesswork at all. This is a brilliantly clear safety feature and really reassuring for new parents.
The seat itself is deep and looks relatively narrow but this keeps baby snug and secure. Newborns sit really comfortably in it with the newborn insert, which keeps baby’s back and neck straight to allow for correct development of the spine and to keep baby’s airways open too.
The headrest adjusts in height with just the pull of one ring at the top of the seat and accommodates babies all the way up to 78cm in height or 13kg in weight (around 14 months old).
The built-in hood on the car seat, which operates independently of the carry handle, has a UPF rating to protect from the sun but also makes for a more private and cosy space for baby to rest in.
Using the MESA i-SIZE seat and i-SIZE base as part of the travel system was absolutely seamless. The seat clicks off the pushchair frame with a thumb release button on the carry handle and no additional adapters are needed to click it to the chassis of the pushchair. We loved how short and snappy trips didn’t interrupt our baby’s napping patterns, and shopping trips could still be speedy without upsetting baby, especially in adverse weather.
As well as the MESA i-SIZE infant car seat, the carrycot is also used from birth. It is comfortable and cosy with removable and washable liners for those inevitable little accidents. The carrycot measures 22 x 74 x 49cm, which was plenty big enough for a 6-month-old baby.
The outer fabrics of the carrycot are soft and finely woven with gorgeous diamond stitch detailing on the zip-off apron. The hood was great for keeping baby’s space private and cosy and the pull-down visor covers right down to the apron and has a UPF 50+ sun protection rating. Although we did not use this feature during our time testing out the VISTA, it’s great to know that if you’re going away for a night or two, the carrycot is approved for overnight sleeping, which saves you packing your travel cot or Moses basket as well as your pram.
When baby reaches 9kg or is able to push themselves up on their hands and knees, you should move on from the carrycot to the pushchair seat. This is at about 6 months. The carrycot can be compacted down flat by sliding the metal bars in the base and packed away in the black storage bag for safe keeping until it is needed again.
The pushchair seat requires little assembly, only the bumper bar has to be fitted. The hood is already attached and the harness too, so all you need to do is click it onto the pushchair frame in either parent or world-facing position.
We immediately loved how deep and wide the seat unit was. It is 31cm wide, 58cm high and 25cm deep, which means it can easily accommodate a passenger up to the recommended limit of 22kg! We sat our 4 year old in the pram and at 18kg he was still well under the weight limit for the seat and could easily and safely use the VISTA if he ever needed to.
The recline can be altered with one hand using the lever at the back of the seat. It doesn’t matter if your seat is in forward or parent-facing position, the seat can be altered easily to make your baby comfortable. The height-adjustable harness is great quality and the buckle is simple and easy to use, with the U-shaped button fitting your thumb perfectly.
The cherry on the top of the VISTA has to be the extendable canopy. The visor pulls out to give total coverage for baby and the huge viewing window in the top of the hood not only allows fresh air to flow into baby’s space but also lets parents sneak a peek without disturbing them. The hood can even be raised to give more headroom for taller children
The pivoting bumper bar is covered in the same genuine leather as the handlebar, so will age and change colour over time.
We tested the VISTA during a Great British summer, which obviously involved ice creams and sand! The fabric covers of the seat are removable and washable, making them very easy to keep clean. Even spot cleaning the ice cream stains with wipes brought the fabrics up like new!
It is also worth noting that the VISTA comes complete with a dedicated raincover and bug shield for the carrycot and both for the toddler seat too.
Fold
For a large travel system, the VISTA is easy to fold. It can be folded with the toddler seat in place forward facing but if you are using it with the MESA i-SIZE infant carrier or the carrycot, you need to click these off the pushchair chassis first.
There are grey triggers on each side of the chassis and you simply pull these up simultaneously to operate the fold. It isn’t a one-handed fold, but it is straightforward all the same.
If you use your car regularly to get around, you can easily pop the back wheels off, which seemed to give us a lot more extra boot space for shopping bags and other luggage.
If you use public transport and need to store the VISTA neatly when out and about it has an auto-locking clip on the inside of the frame and also free-stands when folded so you can stand it in the luggage area of the bus, tram or tube without it getting damaged and rolling around.
Our Verdict
Parents looking for functionality and quality will be drawn in by the exceptional finish of the UPPAbaby VISTA and the thought that has clearly gone into its design. The chassis is sleek and it oozes presence and style.
The wheels are the core foundation of the VISTA. They are strong, solid and again superb quality, which means you get miles and miles of strolls and smiles over all terrains with your little ones as they grow. There wasn’t anywhere we wanted to go that the VISTA couldn’t take us with ease.
There are so many small but carefully considered features on the UPPAbaby VISTA that make life easier for parents and more comfortable for children: The huge UPF50+ sun visor on the hood, the large and silent-opening peek-a-boo window in the hood that allows you to check on baby, the easy one-handed recline, the leather-covered adjustable handlebar, the pivot-opening bumper bar, the deep and spacious seat unit, and not forgetting the absolutely huge basket space, which takes a weekly shop with ease! Very much a continuation of the same fluently functional ethos, the MESA i-SIZE car seat clicks from pushchair to car with a smooth one-handed motion, all without waking baby.
It is worth noting that the VISTA is on the larger side when folded but removing the wheels can be done with the simple push of a button and makes a huge difference to the amount of space the pushchair takes up.
The UPPAbaby VISTA travel system ticks every box for parents wanting a stylish system whilst still offering practicality in abundance.
