Midges in Iceland, July-August

[thehowlingroad]

From what I'm gathering from various travel blogs and chatter here, the little black flies in Iceland are a worsening problem-- some of them bite, some of them don't, all of them are annoying. I'm sensitive to bug bites and will be carrying bug spray in my bag... should I invest in head netting as well? Any other tips for dealing with the flies or recommendations? We're stopping in Akureyri, Isafjordur, Grundarfjordur, and Reykjavik between July 29-August 1, which seems to be the peak of bug season.

[nansi]

5 hours ago, thehowlingroad said:

From what I'm gathering from various travel blogs and chatter here, the little black flies in Iceland are a worsening problem-- some of them bite, some of them don't, all of them are annoying. I'm sensitive to bug bites and will be carrying bug spray in my bag... should I invest in head netting as well? Any other tips for dealing with the flies or recommendations? We're stopping in Akureyri, Isafjordur, Grundarfjordur, and Reykjavik between July 29-August 1, which seems to be the peak of bug season.

For the little bit of money to buy the nets on Amazon, go for it. We had the black fly "experience" in Melbourne a few years ago and it was freaking horrible! Not chancing it again in Iceland/Greenland!

[ozscotart]

People (locals) on Arran swear by Avon Skin so soft, the theory being the little so-and-sos can’t get through it and fall off. I don’t get bitten that much, the theory my GP had was it was because I am Australian and eat Vegemite. 

[edinburgher]

This was discussed on a quite recent thread which you might find interesting to read.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2812546-qaqortoq-greenland/#comments

 

[Scottishclover]

We spent a week in Iceland at the end of July 2020 and don’t recall the midges being bad at all. Perhaps just once early evening when we were on a hike to the hot river in Hveragerdi and then another time at the Fontana Spa at Laugarvatn. Certainly nothing like here in Scotland where you can get bitten alive in 5 minutes by the wee pests. I find midges are worse near trees, water and  after rain and to be fair we had a great week of weather when we were in Iceland. I took “Smidge” spray ( our go to) and we didn’t use it. While the nets stop you from being bitten, I find the midges just swarm around them. Agree that midges/flies are a total annoyance and they can really spoil a good walk.