Bed bugs is it real???

A fair amount is hype, since you can encounter bed bugs anywhere, including Colorado.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/paris-is-crawling-with-bedbugs-here-s-how-to-spot-them-and-prevent-bringing-them-home-during-your-next-trip/ar-AA1hAJYX

Several discussions already on topic

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=6m&filter=Travel+Forum&query=bedbugs&utf8=%E2%9C%93

We’re in Paris now; haven’t seen any yet.

A local friend says she and her husband avoid the movie theaters because of the possibility of bedbugs.

Thanks for asking the question @time well spent. It's so hard since I don't know who to trust. We are looking at going over Christmas and are also trying to decide as well.

Yep they are everywhere

Stay home.

Seriously don’t go anywhere. Paris, London, the hotel down the road. Anywhere

Sorry but they have been around for years and you probably traveled just fine.

Already have tickets/reservations. I am going. I have traveled just fine in the past. Just asked a Q. Thanks for your "reply".

time well spent, dont take it personally: its partially a reaction to other threads where people have expressed more panic. Please go and have a good time, and report back here when you return.

Thank you Stan. I will.

If the fear of bedbugs is creating an overwhelming concern then I think you probably should not travel. I understand the concern but the truth is this is a real risk not just in Paris but everywhere I long ago decided I’d take the risk but others may feel differently

Carol- as I stated, I already have tickets and I'm going in December. If I was afraid I wouldn't go.

Well I read it on the Internet, so....

I don't visit Paris often, but doing the job I do I come into contact with a lot of Americans who have been in Paris recently.

The last two weeks that's been about 30 people, and probably 80 or so nights in hotels in Paris between them. None of them have seen bed bugs. I've asked.

How much is hype??

A lot of it. Bed bugs do exist, but in all of our travels both in country and abroad, we've never encountered them. And we check.

We’re still in Paris. No bites, no blood spots on the sheets, no scratching on the Metro. I do have one spot on my face from a mosquito bite. And there are some little bee-like or waspish creatures who go after the ham on Stan’s breakfast plate. No bedbugs yet.

Two diverse articles from the NYTimes:

Bedbugs: Vacation Without an Infestation
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/04/travel/bedbugs-paris-vacation.html

The Problem With Pests May Be in Parisian Heads, Not Their Beds
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/europe/bedbugs-paris.html

Got back last week, 5 nights Paris, 5 nights Nice. Took the metro a lot. No issue at all. Just take the precautions. Leave your luggage in the bathroom, and start checking.

The NY Times articles are behind a paywall 😕

Here is the second NYT article gifted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/europe/bedbugs-paris.html?unlocked_article_code=UeeJBfcgK_xH0R66uwOXyZRu_xQsb2Aff6skPhnPBmM4ZsJjn-Oev3DHGMK0vKST7dL4l6J4IbBF-FxQfD9ykrDBYkBYTcoKxKWxo7wNYCRYUegPDwNzR-Gg6XF_-QxDTXZ2uTxHH76EZfLqklfMwXVMEm0wFtAx1jH0UN8kajM8fThHbeTsxF_VcvSyC9c3iXK142591S1z_obibWhfxQwJw0WnkvfQ8feaN87STdnb1ceY1x5SdR_etu2BpgWQ7qDzJ2bdAusWrb2jDKzEmvVQJzIUbsi60_KXV58RIhqWUTBuQIfarGcKnIVGO6HBfbf1HU6XDV8uGtkwEw&smid=url-share

Sam, thank you!

The trip this summer luckily no encounter with bed bugs, spent almost a month , ie, a total of 27 nights in hotels (2 star) in France, 3 different ones in Paris for 26 nights and night # 27 in Metz.

Hopefully , it stays that way when I get back there next summer.

I totally get your concern. We were in France when the news media got ahold of it. We continued with our plans though a great deal of time was already planned to be spent in rentals and outside the city itself. That said, we used A LOT of public transport on our 2 days in Paris including long distance trains, local trains, trams, buses, metro - in some cases jammed in wall to wall during rush hour- and remained bed bug free. Just as you do in the U.S., do a quick check of the hotel room to ease your mind. Enjoy your trip!!!

Third night in the Marais District. No problems so far.

Just finished a RS tour in France. Seven hotels, no bedbugs.