Noordi Fjordi Travel System review

Sustainability, active living and Scandinavian design are key to the Noordi brand, and the Fjordi travel system is more than enough to rival some of the well-known stroller brands on the market. Winning Gold in the All-terrain pushchair category in our MadeForMums Awards 2021, it’s certainly got a lot going for it.

Designed to perform well, whatever the weather, the Noordi Fjordi boasts a carrycot which ‘thermoregulates’ to the surrounding climate and is one of the few, if sole, models with an inbuilt mosquito net in the carrycot.

With the travel system retailing for around £900, it sits closer to the premium end of the market, alongside the Cybex Balios S Lux Travel System, £889.95 and the Silver Cross Wayfarer 2020 Dream Travel System, £1,030, although neither of these pack the same all-terrain punch as the Noordi Fjordi.

Tested by

Sadia Khan is a journalist and mother of a 5-month-old baby girl, Sophia, and a 3-and-a-half-year-old boy, Noah, living in London. She tested the pram and pushchair around the city, as well as on a family holiday abroad to Malta.

What are your first impressions of the Noordi Fjordi Travel System?

My first impressions as I took it out of the box were that it is an impressive, sophisticated piece of kit. It has high-quality upholstery – I had the Chocolade colourway, with a sturdy, robust black matt metallic frame and could happily compete against any other premium brand for style and overall feel.

How easy is the Noordi Fjordi to build?

The manual had laid out instructions using graphic images accompanied by rather small text – so small I had to get my reading glasses for the first time since going on maternity leave!

But, while the 54 images looked daunting – and no doubt would have seemed even more so were I a sleep deprived mum of a newborn – the pram and pushchair were surprisingly easy to put together using the manual only for reference and safety guidance, as it had been designed far more intuitively than it first appeared.

It took me 7 minutes to build the pram, from taking parts out of the box and affixing the right covers to the right parts, and then another 4 minutes to remove the carrycot, put the cover on the pushchair and replace it. Once built, the chassis was reassuringly sturdy.

What do you think of the Noordi Fjordi’s carrycot?

With its plush upholstery and cotton-rich lining, the nice, wide carrycot felt sumptuous and looked inviting for a baby, and weighed a deliciously light 3.85kg. At 5 months and 2 weeks, Sophia, who is average for weight but possibly on the slightly longer side, was pretty much top to toe in the carrycot, suggesting that it may not last the full six months.

Its selling point is its Thermocot™ technology, which helps to regulate the microclimate, preventing moisture build up inside. Certainly, Sophia seemed neither too hot nor too cold at any point, though I'm careful with my choice of fabrics for dressing her for different weather and would always ensure she's the right temperature regardless.

Pressed against my nose, the mattress felt breathable, and was of a medium firmness. The hood came down nearly all the way, and would offer the protection against the elements promised in its design, as well as provide a cosy place for your baby. The footmuff had a peekaboo window, although I did struggle to work out how this section is meant to stay up and not flop down.

How comfy is the carrycot?

Now, my little girl has never really been one for sleeping on her back when out and about. Partly due to having had severe reflux, which is thankfully getting better, she’s never been a good pram napper and preferred to sleep upright in a sling while out. She was, however, perfectly comfortable in the carrycot, and enjoyed looking up at the trees and clouds as we walked through the streets of London. One day she had fallen asleep in my arms at home before we went out. I transferred her to the carrycot and she stayed asleep in it as we left, which was very good for her, and an indication of how comfy it is.

Is the Noordi Fjordi carrycot safe for overnight sleeping?

The instruction manual failed to give any kind of indication as to whether the carrycot is safe for overnight sleeping. The omission means that, by default, it’s not, as few would be comfortable sleeping their baby in a cot which doesn't specify that it has been tested to overnight standards. On the website it mentions the cot’s ergonomics; about how it’s ‘wide and suitable for different sleeping positions’, but clearer clarification would have been helpful.

What’s the storage like on the stroller?

Included in the travel system package is a changing bag, which is well designed for its purpose. A comfortable enough size to fit in a stack of nappies, wipes, a couple of changes of clothes and a muslin, with a handy flap pocket on the front for a mobile and a purse, the bag can either hang on two hooks on the chassis, or be used as a small and light rucksack. It was practical and efficient, though for the sake of completeness, could have come equipped with a changing mat, which it did not.

Underneath is a large shopping basket that easily fits a couple of large bags of groceries. On holiday it stored enough for a day at the beach for me, my tall husband and two children, there by bus and back, including jackets in case of rain, spare clothes, spare shoes and beach towels. It was easily accessible with both the carrycot and pushchair fitted on.

There’s also a small zip-up pocket on the carrycot for storing your phone and keys, if you’re just nipping out quickly.

Does the Noordi Fjordi come with any extra features?

Yes. The buggy also came with a raincover, as well as a coffee cup holder, although I ended up leaving this at home after a couple of days. Both days I’d bought a coffee, the cup was not the right size for the holder and the lid kept coming off, spilling liquid over the holder.

Additionally, inside a zipped pocket in the carrycot there’s a mosquito net. Obviously this was not required during an English autumn, but it would be an ideal piece of equipment to take on a summer camping holiday, for example, or a tropical holiday.

How is it to push and steer?

Out and about, even through the bustling streets of central London’s hardy shopping districts, the Noordi was a joy to push around. It handles beautifully and takes corners smoothly. It can be steered easily with one hand and veered between pavement and indoor shop floors without so much as a bump, navigating cracked pavements and tree roots rising through paving slabs with ease.

How well does the Noordi Fjordi work on public transport?

At 60cm, the back wheels are large and wide, and the pram struggled to fit into one of two allotted buggy spaces on a London bus – although I imagine this would be the case for many other all-terrain buggies.

On the tube network, the buggy was fine during the day when carriages are less busy. The difficulty was navigating stations with steps, although one kind woman helping me carry it down the stairs commented on how light the pram was (12.4kg with the carrycot) compared to the Bugaboo she had for her 3-month-old.

How comfortable is the Noordi Fjordi’s seat unit?

The pushchair fared better with Sophia, who can sit quite happily in one for a while. It can be parent facing or world facing, and she was happier facing me.

The 5-point safety harness was secure but easy to use. The seat reclines to a near flat position, allowing for an emergency nappy change table when there was no baby changer available. The pushchair back can be adjusted by a lever on the back but was a little jerky with either one of the kids inside, something backed up by one of our Home Testers from the MadeForMums 2021 Awards who commented on how the seat felt a little stiff to adjust and that the seat fabric occasionally got caught in the mechanism.

The adjustable belly bar provided was the right height for Sophia to rest her little legs on. Again, while she didn’t fall asleep in it, she stayed asleep in it once she had nodded off in my arms, so she must have been comfortable.

How easy are the seat and carrycot to fit to the chassis?

The pushchair and carrycot have a reassuring colour coded system to tell you that they have slotted into place correctly on the chassis, going from red to green. They are both easy to fit with a couple of clicks, and the carrycot could be slotted on with baby inside.

What are the brakes like on the Noordi Fjordi?

Great. The braking system was simple and strong. Operated using a single foot lever in the middle, the brake did not have the habit of getting jammed, as I've found with other buggies. It was smooth and required only a light touch click, which was easily possible in a pair of sandals.

What’s the pushbar like?

The handlebar can be smoothly adjusted using two buttons on either side. I'm 5ft 1in and my husband is a little more than 6ft 4in, but we were both able to adjust the handlebar to a comfortable height. I've found other handlebars come with a cover which inevitably tears or comes loose after a while, but this one was uncovered and more like the steering wheel of a car.

What’s the Noordi Fjordi like on uneven terrain

Amazing. Where the Fjordi really comes into its own is away from commercial life and out in rougher terrains, where it faithfully lives up to its promise of being suited towards the outdoors.

We had planned a family holiday to the Maltese island of Gozo, and decided to take it with us. The chassis and pushchair went into the hold and came out without as much as a scratch, with the hood retaining its form.

With its unrivalled back wheel suspension, the pushchair was as easy to push through cobbled streets, across bumpy grass and made it, with a little effort, across the sands of Ramla Bay, where many pushchairs would falter and get left behind.

What age do you think the Noordi Fjordi pushchair is most suitable for?

My toddler, who is a tall 3-and-a-half-year-old -– thanks to my aforementioned other half – at 15kg was at the upper limit of the weight allowance for the pushchair. He could sit inside it, but his legs were too long and dangled beyond the adjustable footrest, and he couldn’t really lean back if he wanted a little doze.

These days, with so many buggies offering weight limits of 22kg plus, 15kg feels like it won’t last quite as long as others. A weight limit of 15kg would take a girl on the 50th percentile to about 3-and-half years old. I think for this reason, it definitely works best from birth up to around 3.

What’s the Noordi Fjordi car seat like?

The car seat was comfortable enough for my daughter, who is generally not a fan of them either. She did, predictably, start crying after about 20 minutes in it, although then fell asleep.

The seat can be fitted with an Isofix base or using the seat belt. It is similar in size and design to the Maxi Cosi CabrioFix I have, only I fitted the Noordi one with the car's seatbelt as I didn’t have the base. There are blue indicators to show you how to fix safely in place using a seatbelt, but one of our MadeForMums Awards 2021 Home Testers recommends using the Isofix base for ease.

The car seat comes with a footmuff, which may have been suitable earlier on, but my little girl kicked hers off.

What are the straps like on the car seat?

The car seat has a 3-point harness – 2 shoulder straps attached to a crotch strap – rather than a 5-point harness, and was simple yet secure enough. The best part was a button which you press to adjust the straps. It took less than a second to make them the right length.

What’s the handle like on Noordi Fjordi car seat?

Not great. The handle moves position when two buttons either side are pressed, but the buttons are awkward and sticky. It is difficult to press them both at the same time unless facing the car seat face on, which is impossible when it's strapped into the back seat.

How easy is it to fit the car seat onto the chassis?

The car seat adapters fitted on and off the chassis easily, but the car seat as a stroller is the system’s weakest point. While the car seat slotted into the adaptors with some effort to get into exactly the right position, they felt flimsier than those I’ve used for other systems, for example the Baby Jogger.

I gave the car seat a wiggle to test whether it had fitted inside snugly enough, as unlike the pushchair, there was no indicator making this clear. The car seat stroller did not feel nearly as robust or sturdy as either the carrycot or pushchair, although Sophia seemed happy enough in it.

It could also have benefitted from extra belts from the adapters over the top of the car seat’s own seatbelts, given it felt a little wobbly. A sleeping baby may wake up with the difficulty of first pulling the handlebar into place and then making sure the seat clips into the pushchair adapters.

How easy is the Noordi Fjordi buggy to fold?

Not hugely. The diagrams in the manual are small and difficult to follow, and the accompanying text simply says to follow the pictures. Eventually, using the manual I was able to work out that the handlebar needs to be pushed down as far as possible, and then a red button has to be pressed inside the right arm of the chassis and a lever pulled over the top of it, with a lever on the left pulled up simultaneously.

It took about 10 attempts and 10 minutes to get it right. It then required considerably more effort to get the front wheels in the right place to enable it to be folded as flat as possible. It is certainly not the sort of thing my 75-year-old mother would be able to manage while looking after the baby.

It was a far cry from the nifty one-handed folds I’ve grown accustomed to from the Baby Jogger or Out 'n’ About. It was a fold which required a certain knack, which my husband developed quicker than I did. In fact, I forgot how to do it after a week away with him, and struggled with the fold once we were back in London and I was going solo with the buggy again.

How easy is the Noordi Fjordi to store at home or transport in the car?

Despite its claim to be the buggy of choice for those fond of the great outdoors, it is not the sort of travel system you can fold with one hand and throw into the back of a boot before stepping on the gas into the great unknown. Despite looking through the manual I couldn’t find a way of folding the Noordi Fjordi with the carrycot or pushchair seat attached, although there are images of the folded buggy with these on, on the dimensions page of their website. Very confusing!

I managed to fit the chassis and the pushchair or carrycot into the back of my Toyota Prius, but only after several permutations of the carrycot. There would also be little room left for much else, whereas other buggies I've had are slim enough to have things piled on top. It also means the system takes up more space inside the car, or at home.

What’s in the box?

My delivery arrived in two separate boxes – one containing everything for the pushchair and carrycot, and the other including the car seat:

• Black chassis
• Carrycot
• Carrycot footmuff
• Pushchair seat
• Pushchair cover
• Pushchair footmuff
• Pushchair hood
• Pushchair belly bar
• Changing bag
• Cup holder
• Raincover
• Four wheels
• Car seat
• Car seat footmuff
• Car seat adapters

Who would the Noordi Fjordi Travel System be most useful for?

The Fjordi is an excellent, luxurious yet practical travel system suited to those who like to enjoy longer outdoor trips. While it is on the pricier end, if you are a family who enjoys spending time outside in various climes, it’s well suited to your needs.

What would you have liked to have known about the Noordi Fjordi Travel System before purchasing?

As it’s marketed as an outdoors pushchair, you’d expect the Fjordi to handle dirt well, however the manual specifically cautions against washing external fabrics, and says internal liners should be hand washed at 30 degrees, which isn’t ideal.

How does it compare to similar travel systems?

Where can I buy the Noordi Fjordi Travel System?

Available to buy at Pramworld, Trendy Baby and Johnston Prams.

MadeForMums verdict:

The Noordi Fjordi Travel System is a practical, smart, reassuringly sturdy product which is well suited to outdoor trips in a range of climates. With plenty of features to help keep baby snug, comfortable and warm, it’s a perfect choice for outdoorsy families who want to bring baby in on the action, however is you prefer the hustle and bustle of the city and want a nippy run-around, there may be better options out there for you.