Travel Stories Along VQ

From Venice to the Lofoten Island: in the footsteps of Pietro Querini by bicycle (2024)

From 28 June to 21 July, Paolo Vidotto and Adriano Pellizzon, two passionate cyclists, embarked on an extraordinary adventure along the Via Querinissima, following in the footsteps of Pietro Querini. This route, stretching from picturesque Venice to the remote Lofoten Islands and on to the North Cape, with a total of around 3,300 km plus a further 1,200 km, is not only a historical journey, but also an ideal choice for sportsmen and women and lovers of cycling challenges.

The stages, which have included cities such as Innsbruck, Munich, Augsburg, Wurzburg, Rostock, Gothenburg, Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø and the Lofoten Islands, show that the Via Querinissima is perfect for those who wish to combine sporting passion and cultural discovery. This project promotes sustainable tourism, emphasising slow mobility and respect for the environment through the use of the bicycle as a means of transport.

The project was supported by the Chamber of Commerce of Venice and Rovigo and the Rotary Club of Venice Noale dei Tempesta. The trip was sponsored by numerous organisations, including the Veneto Region, Via Querinissima, the North Adriatic Sea Port System Authority, the Metropolitan City of Venice, the Municipality of Venice, the Municipality of Sandrigo, the Region of Nordland, and the municipalities of Røst and Trondheim. The Venerable Confraternity of Bacalà alla Vicentina in Sandrigo, Sport and Health also lent their support.

A docufilm is currently being produced, documenting stage after stage of this undertaking, bearing witness not only to the sporting aspect, but also to the promotion of tourism that respects the cultural and natural heritage.

The EOC tour on the Via Querinissima (2023)

The Association is patronising this special project, during which the Orienteering Organising Committee will walk some of the stages of Pietro Querini’s path. An important event that promotes history, culture and sport.

Below the programme

Press tour along Via Querinissima (2023)

Three days tourist program for international tourists was thought and developed between January and March 2023 with a collaboration between the following members of the Via Querinissima Association:

Pro Loco Sandrigo
Nordland Region
Rost Municipality
Bodø Municpality (future member of the Association)
This project originated by an idea proposed to the Association Via Querinissima for a press tour in Querini.s footstep” by the communication agency Studio Cru
The program was planned In collaboration with the following tourism and business actors:
Confraternita del Bacala’ alla Vicentina
NordNorsk Reiseliv
Visit Bodo
Visit Norway
Seafood from Norway
Stockfish from Lofoten PGI
Innovasjon Norge
Jektefartsmuseet, Bodo
Querini Pub & Restaurant , Røst
Larsen Mat & Vinbar, Bodo
T.H.E. CREATOR, Røst
Bryggehotell., Røst

The program was then tested with a group of Italian journalists who, on the initiative of the Via Querinissima International Association and the communication agency Studio Cru, traveled to Nordland “in Querini’s footsteps” between 23 and 27 March.

This journey was then described in various articles in magazines and newspapers, as well as in national television prime-time programs in Italy and Norway.

Via Querinissima by land (2012)

Five years after the first journey in 2007, the Venerable Brotherhood of the Bacalà alla Vicentina wanted to travel the Via Querinissima overland from Røst to Venice with a bright yellow Fiat 500!

On Pietro Querini's route (2007)

On the occasion of the 20 year anniversary of the Venerable Brotherhood of the Bacalà alla Vicentina the crew composed by Chef Antonio Chemello, the other two seamen Luigi Pomi and Arnaldo Pozzato and the skipper Furio Borgarelli, decided to have decided to sail the Via Querinissima from Venice to Røst.

Below are the stages covered