France's tiger mosquito has made it to Paris. It bites hardest in the south.

If your summer trip pairs Paris with the south, the two halves will feel different. The Asian tiger mosquito, a small, striped daytime biter, has spread north to Paris, and it is at its worst in the south, where the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) calls it a serious biting nuisance. The last two summers also brought local outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses to well-known towns on the Riviera and around Bordeaux. Here is what that means for a one- or two-week trip, and the routine that covers it.

A daytime mosquito, south to north

The tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, bites aggressively in daylight, with peaks in the morning and late afternoon, in gardens, on terraces and in shady streets. It is most active in warm weather from May into the autumn, and it is now established in most of mainland France, Paris included. The worst areas are the Riviera towns, from Antibes, Nice and Cannes to Fréjus and the Saint-Tropez peninsula; Marseille and its suburbs; Avignon and the Vaucluse; Montpellier and Nîmes; the Camargue; and, in 2026, the Bordeaux area and the Arcachon basin.

The same mosquito lives in Italy and Spain, so a trip that continues to Italy or Spain keeps the same habits. Our daytime-mosquito routine has the full schedule. Here is how it changes between the two halves of a typical trip.

The Riviera's record chikungunya summer

Chikungunya is spread by the tiger mosquito and is not endemic in France. In 2025 France had Europe's largest local chikungunya outbreak on record, about 800 cases between late May and November, centered on the Riviera and Provence. Antibes alone had more than 140 cases and Fréjus more than 80, with clusters in Nice, Cagnes-sur-Mer, La Croix-Valmer, Vitrolles near Marseille and Nîmes. The Dordogne had more than 100. Paris had a single case.

The 2026 season was smaller but still the second-largest on record. As of October 21, ECDC counted 182 local cases in 22 clusters, 15 of them still active. The center moved west to the Gironde, Bordeaux's department, with 83 cases, including 30 in Prignac-et-Marcamps and 18 in Arcachon. Prayssac in the Lot had 36, Cavalaire-sur-Mer on the Var coast 25, Aigues-Mortes on the edge of the Camargue 12, and Nogent-sur-Marne, in the Paris suburbs, 6.

West Nile at an all-time high

West Nile virus travels on Culex mosquitoes, which bite mainly in the evening and at night. It is long established in the Camargue and Provence and is spreading north. In 2025 France recorded 62 local cases, then its highest ever, including the first cases in Paris and six other Île-de-France departments. In 2026 the count reached 173 by October 21, across 30 departments, which ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority call "by far the highest number of cases ever reported by France." Bouches-du-Rhône, home to Marseille and Arles, led with 35, followed by Haute-Garonne around Toulouse with 22, the Var with 19 and the Vaucluse with 18. Most infections cause no symptoms, and ECDC notes that severe illness falls mostly on people 65 and older.

Dengue stays small

Mainland France gets small local dengue clusters every summer. The 2026 season was light, with 7 cases in five clusters as of October 21, in Marseille, Sète, the Dordogne, the Tarn and the Var. ECDC counted 29 in 2025, including 10 in Aubagne near Marseille, and 83 in 2024, mostly in the Var, the Vaucluse and the Alpes-Maritimes.

The Camargue at dusk

The Camargue, the wetland between Arles, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Aigues-Mortes, is famous for its mosquitoes, and its reputation is for still summer evenings. It is part of France's main West Nile zone, and Aigues-Mortes had a 12-case chikungunya cluster in September 2026. How bad it gets varies with the night and where you stay, so plan for a bad evening and enjoy it if it doesn't come.

For a sunset walk or dinner outdoors, wear long sleeves and trousers in a light fabric and put fresh repellent on everything else. Clothing treated with permethrin at home before the trip adds a layer for anyone spending whole evenings outside. Then head back to a closed, air-conditioned room.

Where you're going

Here is how the main stops compare for a June–September trip.

June is easiest; August is the peak

June has the fewest local cases of the summer. From mid-July through September, tiger mosquitoes are at their worst in the south, and local chikungunya, dengue and West Nile cases appear, mostly in Provence, the Riviera, Occitanie and, in 2026, the Bordeaux area. West Nile peaked across Europe at the end of August 2026.

Spring and fall are milder, though not mosquito-free. The tiger mosquito is active from May, so a spring trip to the south still calls for repellent on warm afternoons. In the fall the season runs on: 2026 chikungunya clusters ran from June to mid-October, and the 2025 outbreak lasted into November.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from forum threads and reviews and linked so you can read them in full. Only the first is dated, and individual trips vary with weather, wind and where you stay.

• Avignon and Provence · May to November · 2026

  A May 2026 post described the Asian tiger mosquito as a significant problem in the region and said it is most active from May through November. TripAdvisor ↗

• Nice · April to October

  A Nice resident said tiger mosquitoes are present locally and that their season has stretched to run from April into October. TripAdvisor ↗

• Cannes · October

  In an older thread (roughly ten years old), a visitor asked whether tiger mosquitoes were still a problem for an October trip. One reply said there were more mosquitoes than usual but mostly the ordinary kind; another had seen none that week and said Cannes runs a spraying program each May. TripAdvisor ↗

• Les Bains Gardians, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Camargue)

  A reviewer at this hotel next to the Camargue nature park said there were no mosquitoes at all during their stay, a contrast with the area's reputation. TripAdvisor ↗

One more rule outlasts the trip. Any fever, rash or joint pain during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in France and were bitten by mosquitoes. That one sentence is what gets you the right test quickly.

Traveler questions