Bugs in Italy during the Summer

I don't remember any bugs in the cities. Maybe in the country side and closer to water.

Patti, It would help to have some idea which part of Italy you'll be travelling in? I've never noticed Mosquitoes anywhere in Italy (so far). If you're really concerned, you could pack along some DEET. Happy travels!

I traveled through Italy in the month of September. I brought some individually packaged insect repellant wipes. We did experience mosquitos, but I can't remember where off the top of my head.

Thank you for the responses. We will be in Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento & near Piza. I was planning on buying the deer bug wipes, I just wasn't sure if I'd need them daily or not. Bugs just love to bite me. I came home from Belize wi 87 bites & I was using Deet. So I am always cautious.

Mosquitoes eat me alive and everywhere I've been in Italy has had tons of mosquitoes... Tuscany, Rome, Sorrento, Umbria, Venice.

Nowadays we take our holidays in Italy during Spring and Autumn and we meet the little b****s almost everywhere we go. Our previous experience when travelling in the warmer months was that the problem got worse as the weather warmed up. We have had holidays in Rome, Venice, Florence, Bologna, the Umbrian countryside and Sorrento amongst other places and always take precautions. Most bedrooms do not have window screens. We always take with us a liquid plug-in insect repellent to use overnight, they are widely available in local supermarkets. Here are some typical products (top of the page). http://www.esselungaacasa.it/ecommerce/superstore.do Cover up at dusk and/or use a repellant and don't forget your feet/ankles/legs. Unless you are very lucky mozzies will, to a geater or lesser extent, be an issue.

Linda
Thank you!!! I really appreciate the information and the link.

Patti, I live in Rome and before living here had visited on a couple of occasions. There have been times when I have slept with the window wide open (no screens) in the heat of summer and haven't had a single mosquito bother me all night. There are also times when I sleep with the window open and am bugged a lot. Outside of Rome, I remember dealing with a lot of mosquitos in Assisi. I have noticed a pattern, however: if the building where you are staying is not in a shady location, there tend to be less bugs around. For example, in Assisi the buildings are close together and where I was living there was almost always in the shade. The place I stayed that one time in Rome with the windows wide open, no screens, was not in the shade at all and was not too close to any other buildings. If you don't have A/C where you are staying and need to open the windows at night, my recommendation is: don't open the window until you have turned out the lights. I noticed in Assisi that if the mosquitos were already in my room (because the light had been on when the window was open), they tended to hang around and bother me. Also, a lot of drug stores sell these sonar things that are supposed to drive the bugs away. I don't know if they really work. All of what I have said above could well amount to nothing more than old wives tales, but it seems to have worked for me. Other than mosquitos, I have not really noticed much of a problem with flies or other bugs.

There are some mosquitoes on early summer, but they are usually not as much as, say, in the Gulf Coast. They are more of an issue in the countryside.

We were in Florence last week. There were lots of mosquitos. They seem to think I'm their buffet too Patti!

There are plenty of mosquitoes in Italy especially during June and July, and unfortunately the asian tiger mosquito has been introduced and will eventually replace the native species. There's good advice on what to do to combat mosquitoes in Italy here: http://www.bella-toscana.com/agriturismo.htm

I'm wih Richard. The tiger Mosquitos are the worst! I met them for the first time in Bosnia 2 summers ago. I've never experienced such tiny beings that cause so much a huge reaction (huge itchy welts about 6" in diameter). I was also eaten alive in Venice that year. It never affected my husband. I guess it's just us sweet ones they like. I now always travel with the disposable wipes and after bite and they work wonders.

We were in Italy for a month last summer (July 7 - July 8/2 specifically Rome, Positano, Vernazza, Venice) and don't recall ever putting on bug repellant OR getting any bug bites! ...and we did not have screens in any of the apartments we rented. I DO get eaten alive by mosquitos here in the US!

I swear by this product: Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Spray.
However, try it out first to see if it works for you.

Well interesting that you should say that.. we just came back yesterday and encountered mosquitoes (itty bitty ones but they bite none the less) in Venice and in Florence. Not tons of them but they got in our apts at night and kept buzzing us. I did get a few bites but it was not horrible --

We were in Italy last September and spent a week in a farmhouse in Tuscany. I know we slept with the window open and don't recall any mosquitos. I'm immune to bites but would remember the buzzing in my ears. That being said the farmhouse had a pool, and turned on the underwater pool lights before we went out to dinner, thinking we'd have a romantic swim under the full moon our last night in Italy. Big mistake! the pool was covered with thousands of drowning bugs.
Guess that's what happens when you live someplace thats relatively bug free.

Oh my god, so many bites!!! Horrible huge welts. It started in either Tuscany or Monterosso in the cinque terre, and ha persisted through Venice. I really wish someone had told us. We are headed to Milan tomorrow and I'm hoping there will be less of a problem with them. Notice, it is late October. Worst mosquitoes I have ever encountered. Bring heavy chemicals.

I spent the month of September this year in Italy. Started in Venice and then headed to CT and small towns to the north. Never saw a bug. I get bit in the US (Hawaii) but not this time in Italy.

We didn't have any problems with bugs during June & July. We started in Venice (did get a spider bite), then Florence, Rome, Sorrento & Siena. I did put Coconut oil on everyday (which also has it's own sunscreen). Would highly recommend you bring some when you travel!

Since mosquitoes are on every continent but Antarctica, isn't asking if there are alot of mosquitoes in Italy sort of like asking if there's alot of water in the Atlantic?

Not really, Michael. I haven't ever got bit by a mosquito in Germany. For that matter, they're pretty rare in many parts of the SF bay area. I think it never gets warm enough and/or there's never enough stangant water near the places I lived to breed them. I did get bit a lot in Croatia, though.