Are Bed Bugs An Issue? How Do I Avoid Them

[Aussie1967]

The Camino de Santiago is an incredible journey of self-discovery, community, and adventure. Walking through stunning landscapes, staying in cozy albergues, and meeting fellow pilgrims from around the world make it a truly unique experience. However, I’ve heard stories about bed bugs being an issue on the Camino, especially in some of the shared accommodations. For those who’ve walked the Camino, how did you deal with or prevent bed bugs during your trip? Are there specific tips or products you’d recommend to avoid bringing them home?

 

[VNwalking]

Welcome, @Aussie1967. For starters, there are may threads here on the Forum about that already. The search button is your friend. Or look in the Home page here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/search-forums/bed-bugs.260/

 

[C clearly]

Or tap on the tag "bed bugs" that I've added under the title of this thread.

 

[davejsy]

No sign of bed bugs in any of the 30ish Albergues I stayed in on my CF and I've not heard of them being a particular issue. Like a lot of things on the Camino these things can seem a bigger problem than they actually are to someone who is looking online and planning their first Camino. I recall being similarly mindful of them before my first Camino having read all the stories and was convinced I'd been bitten on my first night in SJPdP - but obviously I hadn't.

 

[Pafayac]

Notice that albergues are more and more vigilant. For instance, on spring 2023 in the municipal of Castrojeriz, the hospitalero did an inspection every morning.
Personnally, a few days before starting, I put my sleeping bag, my sleeping sheet, my backpack... on the floor then I spray a permethrin product on them. I wait they are dry, then I put them in the backpack.
Inside an albergue, I never put my backpack on a bed and I prevent other pilgrims to do.
In some albergues, especially in France, you are given a plastic box: you should leave your backpack in a special room and just take what you need in this plastic box you bring in the dormitory.

 

[Lexicos]

I’ve done 5 Camino’s; in Spain, France and Portugal. Never had an issue with bed bugs at any of them, over a 7 year period, including this year. I’ve met only one pilgrim in that time who had been bitten. Maybe I’ve been lucky, I guess.

 

[J Willhaus]

When you get home as a precaution, before you bring your bag inside and depending on your resources and climate, you can put your whole bag in the deep freeze for 3+ days. You can also put your whole pack in a black trash bag and leave it baking in the sun. They are killed by heat and extreme cold.

On the Camino, I look for places with Spartan furnishings. Metal bunk beds and mattresses with plastic covers. Few decorations or soft furnishings. No blankets. No picture frames on the wall where bed bugs can hide in the daytime.

I try to get a bunk that does not touch the wall and I try not to let my sleep sack touch the wall. They can climb rough surfaces, but not slick metal or plastic.

Bed bugs can be anywhere, but they are not everywhere. In 7 trips to the Camino, I've knowingly only encountered them once and that was with a group of university students in the winter (in only one of the two dorms where we were housed).

Keep calm. Put your stuff in the dryer before spreading them to another place and carry on.

 

[efdoucette]

They are out there and are a slight nuisance if you get them. Not a big deal unless your body reacts, of course. It requires going through your gear and finding a dryer to run your clothes in, they die in heat. Tip: if you have technical clothes put them in the dryer dry, not wet. This will minimize shrinkage. If you want to wash them afterwards, for icky feels, wash them after the dryer routine and hang to dry.
I'm sure I will get some bounce back here, everyone has different views on the topic and has different approaches. I've been nailed to the cross before for my opinions. But they are free.
I picked up bedbugs this past Sept in the fanciest hotel I stayed in on my trip, so you never know. Probably because of the price, I dropped my guard. I agree with a previous post that albergues are keen to keep clean.

 

[jungleboy]

The Camino de Santiago is an incredible journey of self-discovery, community, and adventure. Walking through stunning landscapes, staying in cozy albergues, and meeting fellow pilgrims from around the world make it a truly unique experience.

I know this is not the point of your post, so sorry for the hijack, but it sounds like you haven't walked a camino before. So I would just like to point out that your description of the camino is a lovely but quite idealistic one that may or may not match your actual experience. For example, my own view is the albergues are usually not that cozy (though some are) and the landscapes are usually not that stunning (though some are). Don't get me wrong, most of us here, including me, love the camino and that's why we're here in the first place, but I think a decent piece of advice that has been given by many others is to try not to have such high expectations for a first camino, because that might lead to disappointment.

That's all, carry on and buen camino.

 

[alexwalker]

I have walked many Caminos from 2008 up till today. I have never seen a bedbug. I haven't even heard from any fellow pilgrims that they have seen it. I do not use any substance to avoid them. IMHO this is a grossly overrated problem: It can happen anywhere. Albergues on the Camino are just "collateral damage".

I trust that every albergue is very aware and on the lookout to prevent this "problem".

 

[AshtabulaJed]

I walked the Camino Frances, beginning September 4 and ending 15 October. I never experienced bed bugs in that time and never had anyone complain that they had experienced them.
I'm just saying!

 

[C clearly]

Sorry folks, to be the bearer of bad news, but I have encountered bedbugs 3 times on the Camino Frances and once on the VDLP.

 

[dougfitz]

Sorry folks, to be the bearer of bad news, but I have encountered bedbugs 3 times on the Camino Frances and once on the VDLP.

I suspect that I have too, and know at least one person admitted to hospital having reacted badly to being bitten. I don't know what the balance is here, but giving people false hope that they will never encounter bed-bugs isn't helpful in my view, particularly when I expect that many people won't know how they will react if they are bitten. Helping them understand that they can mitigate the risk with simple precautions, and how to deal with being bitten should that happen, seems a more valuable approach to this topic.

Celebrate your luck if you haven't been bitten if you will, but don't suggest that this is any form of evidence that bed bugs don't exist and will not be a problem. Your luck is just that, yours. Others won't necessarily share it.

 

[trecile]

Out of 8 Caminos I've had 5 bed bug free Caminos.

One confirmed bed bug Camino - I actually saw bed bugs in the dorm and had three bites. Treated my gear so that I wouldn't be a bed bug carrier.

Two possible bed bug Caminos - I had bites of unknown origin, but heat treated my gear to be on the safe side.

 

[Pafayac]

Two possible bed bug Caminos - I had bites of unknown origin, but heat treated my gear to be on the safe side.

Did you treat your gear when on the Camino yet ? How ?

 

[trecile]

Did you treat your gear when on the Camino yet ? How ?

I took my clothing, bedding, etc. to a laundromat and put it in a hot drier for half an hour.

 

[CWBuff]

Can we for a moment think about the fact that perhaps bed bugs are Pilgrims too?

seriously, yes they are out there and i guess it matters not if anyone else "always" encountered them or "never" encountered them - its what happens when you are on Camino and we can Pray and Hope that you do not encounter them.

Good luck and Buen Camino

 

[domigee]

Sorry folks, to be the bearer of bad news, but I have encountered bedbugs 3 times on the Camino Frances and once on the VDLP.

And me once on the Camino francés and once on the Aragonés. But that is not much since I have walked thousands and thousands of kms

 

[alexwalker]

Bed bugs are not a Camino-specific problem. It is a travel problem, carried around by people who are traveling much more than earlier years.

Edit: I am convinced/certain, that hospitaler@s on any Camino are very aware of this issue and will be resolute to solve an eventual problem immediately. It's bad for their business.

 

[Tincatinker]

Bed bugs on the Paris Metro; Bed bugs in the Olympic Village; Bed bugs in a Hilton Hotel; Bedbugs in public authority housing in Brighton; Bedbugs in Dar es Salamm. You takes your choice and you does your Godgle search. You’ll find them everywhere. Sharpening their nasty pointy teeth and waiting for their next lunch.

And no, you can’t always avoid being around them: but there are plenty of simple practical avoidance and deterrence techniques that can be applied to reduce the chances of you feeding the little buggers.

It’s a shame the OP has never returned to the forum to absorb some of the helpful information, advice and suggestions offered here. I guess their question was rhetorical…

 

[dougfitz]

I am convinced/certain, that hospitaler@s on any Camino are very aware of this issue and will be resolute to solve an eventual problem immediately. It's bad for their business.

I agree, and it is credit to their diligence that so many of us have been able to walk without being bitten. That isn't good luck, but hard work. Bad luck is following someone who hasn't realised they are carrying these nasty little critters and hasn't treated their clothing and equipment to remove them, and where others haven't let the hospitaleros/as know there is a problem.

 

[alexwalker]

I agree, and it is credit to their diligence that so many of us have been able to walk without being bitten. That isn't good luck, but hard work. Bad luck is following someone who hasn't realised they are carrying these nasty little critters and hasn't treated their clothing and equipment to remove them, and where others haven't let the hospitaleros/as know there is a problem.

Indeed. you are at the core, or rather, the solution of the problem IMHO

 

[domigee]

in some albergues, especially in France, you are given a plastic box: you should leave your backpack in a special room and just take what you need in this plastic box you bring in the dormitory.

Yes, I was amazed in France! I guess they are extremely watchful as - well in my case anyway - it is their own home we stay in. And there are far fewer pilgrims than on the Cf, for instance.

 

[stewinyvr]

I walked the Camino Frances, beginning September 4 and ending 15 October. I never experienced bed bugs in that time and never had anyone complain that they had experienced them.
I'm just saying!

I walked at exactly the same time, and while I did not encounter any bedbugs, one of the pilgrims I was walking with did get bitten, and had a bad reaction..I did not hear of anyone else that I interacted with getting bitten..
In one Albergue I stayed someone claimed to have seen one and the entire place almost cleared out…best nights sleep I had on the Camino

 

[DwainS]

I have walked the Camino Frances twice, in 2023 and 2024 in May- June both years and did not get bed bugs or met anyone who had. So be aware of them but don't get paranoid about them. To be honest, I was a little bit paranoid on my first Camino Frances after reading about bed bugs on this forum but my second Camino I was not that worried about bed bugs.

 

[OZAJ]

I am bug ice cream.

I have been bitten in Cairo, Syria, on the Voie de Vezelay, the Frances and twice in Sdc, however most of my caminos have been bug-free. I do nothing to dissuade them, relying (ha ha) on luck.