Kon-Tiki Museum on Postcard

"Set Sail at the Kon-Tiki Museum This museum is dedicated to Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), who gained worldwide fame when he crossed the Pacific Ocean on Kon-Tiki (a raft made from balsa wood) in 1947. After his return, Heyerdahl worked on a documentary of the journey, which won an Academy Award in 1951 (this movie is screened every day at the museum). The museum also houses several permanent exhibitions on his other journeys, including the expeditions on the reed boats Ra and Tigris, as well as his excavations on Easter Island and Fatu-Hiva. The archives of Thor Heyerdahl have now been included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register. The museum is located on Bygdøy, an area ripe with museums and interesting highlights."

If You Only Have Three Days in Oslo

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@afar

"Set Sail at the Kon-Tiki Museum This museum is dedicated to Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), who gained worldwide fame when he crossed the Pacific Ocean on Kon-Tiki (a raft made from balsa wood) in 1947. After his return, Heyerdahl worked on a documentary of the journey, which won an Academy Award in 1951 (this movie is screened every day at the museum). The museum also houses several permanent exhibitions on his other journeys, including the expeditions on the reed boats Ra and Tigris, as well as his excavations on Easter Island and Fatu-Hiva. The archives of Thor Heyerdahl have now been included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register. The museum is located on Bygdøy, an area ripe with museums and interesting highlights."

Museums of Oslo

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Domi Montel

Google

Amazing place, amazing museum... We spent almost 4 hours because it was very captivating. It's a pity the museum doesn't sell a book of Thor's adventures for children or at least a timeline or the museum's content in the book... Disabled people can move around. Children can come and have fun. Thank you so much!

Roman Meyer

Google

Very impressive and well-organized museum. You can see there real boats which Tor used during his crazy expedition. Besides the boats you can read the info about these trips and it is pretty easy to read and understand, because texts are good written, fonts and sizes are well chosen.

Peter Hartin

Google

Such a really neat museum to learn about history of sea vessels and the journeys people took. Without giving too much away, this museum in particular focused on Thor and a few other seamen and the boats they used on their journeys which included materials that some thought would never make it but they ended up proving that it was possible. Definitely worth a visit and you can pair your ticket with entry to the Fram museum and Maritime museum that are both nearby.

viswa nathan

Google

One of the best plages to visit. Looks like Indians have helped and Southern part of India (Tamizhs) have travelled all the Way to Easter Island and had a fantastic civilisation and had a lot of knowledge in ship building. Sweet potato is called as “Kumara” in Easter Island. Hats off to Mr. Thor for his adventures trip and for the unbiased views about the origin of the native people of Easter Island. Movie inside the museum is like ice on the cream! Totally worth visiting!

Stephen Smith

Google

This museum packs a lot into a small space. Basically a museum built to commemorate the voyages of Thor Heyerdoll, it preserved two of his boats the Kontiki and the raw two that made groundbreaking voyages using only the current for power. There were many fascinating things about life on board, and Thor hired all himself, as well as the wildlife they encountered on their voyages.

Rasa Malinauskaite

Google

The exhibits are beautifully curated, offering a fantastic mix of history, art, and culture. The permanent collection is diverse and impressive, with something for everyone. The interactive displays and multimedia elements make learning fun and engaging, perfect for all ages.

Mikey C

Google

Went as part of Oslo Pass. Out of the 3 museums I found this on the most interesting. Fascinating how the Kon Tiki, RA I, RA I and Tigris were built and stories of their journeys. The Kon Tiki was a lot bigger than I thought it was. How any of the rafts and boats crossed the ocean was a miracle. I recommend at least visiting thus museum. Well worth it.

Michael Zamyslov

Google

A delightful museum. Many real exhibits with fascinating histories. You can watch documentary footage of the journey in the museum. It is highly recommended to watch the feature film about this journey before your visit. If you haven’t visited the nearby museums, this is a great opportunity to visit several delightful museums at once! Highly recommended!

Domi Montel

Google

Amazing place, amazing museum... We spent almost 4 hours because it was very captivating. It's a pity the museum doesn't sell a book of Thor's adventures for children or at least a timeline or the museum's content in the book... Disabled people can move around. Children can come and have fun. Thank you so much!

Roman Meyer

Google

Very impressive and well-organized museum. You can see there real boats which Tor used during his crazy expedition. Besides the boats you can read the info about these trips and it is pretty easy to read and understand, because texts are good written, fonts and sizes are well chosen.

Peter Hartin

Google

Such a really neat museum to learn about history of sea vessels and the journeys people took. Without giving too much away, this museum in particular focused on Thor and a few other seamen and the boats they used on their journeys which included materials that some thought would never make it but they ended up proving that it was possible. Definitely worth a visit and you can pair your ticket with entry to the Fram museum and Maritime museum that are both nearby.

viswa nathan

Google

One of the best plages to visit. Looks like Indians have helped and Southern part of India (Tamizhs) have travelled all the Way to Easter Island and had a fantastic civilisation and had a lot of knowledge in ship building. Sweet potato is called as “Kumara” in Easter Island. Hats off to Mr. Thor for his adventures trip and for the unbiased views about the origin of the native people of Easter Island. Movie inside the museum is like ice on the cream! Totally worth visiting!

Stephen Smith

Google

This museum packs a lot into a small space. Basically a museum built to commemorate the voyages of Thor Heyerdoll, it preserved two of his boats the Kontiki and the raw two that made groundbreaking voyages using only the current for power. There were many fascinating things about life on board, and Thor hired all himself, as well as the wildlife they encountered on their voyages.

Rasa Malinauskaite

Google

The exhibits are beautifully curated, offering a fantastic mix of history, art, and culture. The permanent collection is diverse and impressive, with something for everyone. The interactive displays and multimedia elements make learning fun and engaging, perfect for all ages.

Mikey C

Google

Went as part of Oslo Pass. Out of the 3 museums I found this on the most interesting. Fascinating how the Kon Tiki, RA I, RA I and Tigris were built and stories of their journeys. The Kon Tiki was a lot bigger than I thought it was. How any of the rafts and boats crossed the ocean was a miracle. I recommend at least visiting thus museum. Well worth it.

Michael Zamyslov

Google

A delightful museum. Many real exhibits with fascinating histories. You can watch documentary footage of the journey in the museum. It is highly recommended to watch the feature film about this journey before your visit. If you haven’t visited the nearby museums, this is a great opportunity to visit several delightful museums at once! Highly recommended!

Stephen S.

Yelp

This museum packs a lot into a small space. Basically a museum built to commemorate the voyages of Thor Heyerdoll, it preserved two of his boats the Kontiki and the raw two that made groundbreaking voyages using only the current for power. There were many fascinating things about life on board, and Thor hired all himself, as well as the wildlife they encountered on their voyages.

Doug C.

Yelp

One of three museums next door to one another. We came here as part of the cruise ship shore tour with the provided bus. We had to move quickly through the museum to keep on schedule and get back to ship. So give yourself plenty of time here and the other museums. I took a number of photos to give you some idea of what's here. Before the official tour we came here on our own on the number 30 bus for 118 kroner each. We took a shortcut back to ship and official tour by taking the water taxi across the harbor. See photo. Much better way to get around harbor and see the sights. You have to use credit card to pay for taxi.

Mary S.

Yelp

This was an interesting museum. They have the boat that used for the expedition displayed. It might of be okay for me because by the time I got here I was mentally boated out from The Fram Museum.

Robyn P.

Yelp

This museum is dedicated to the story of Norwegian born Thor Heyerdal, an explorer who built a raft to sail from Peru to Polynesia. I was not familiar with this story prior to visiting the museum. As it turns out, he is a Norwegian hero, and rightly so. His journey was so dangerous, that many predicted it couldn't be accomplished.The museum has the original raft he built amd countless photographs and artifacts from his adventures. I found this museum to be very interesting and educational and I recommend a visit to this fascinating museum

Martine K.

Yelp

This is something I never knew about. Unbelievable how 5 men survived and took this raft from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. "Experts" said the raft would never make it past like 2 weeks. They proved them wrong! There are cool artifacts and interesting tidbits to see here.

Schelly Y.

Yelp

Seeing the raft and reading about this remarkable adventure was something else. The museum details Thor Heyerdahl's crazy goal of trying to get to the south pacific on a raft It is located in the Bygdøy with all of the other museums and you can take a ferry from Pier 3.

Hung V.

Yelp

After the visit at the Viking Museum, we had to take the local bus to toward the central area for this museum. The Kon-Tiki Museum is located in the Bygdøy peninsula. It houses vessels and maps from the Kon-Tiki expedition, and the library with about 8000 books. It was originally opened in 1949 and 1957 in the current facility. Highly recommended!

Brian R.

Yelp

Thor Heyerdahl was certifiable. He tested out archeological and anthropological theories by putting his life where his mouth was. He found cultural signs in Polynesia that suggested a connection with Latin America. He hypothesized that Polynesians might have their roots in pre-Colombian South America, and that light, sturdy balsa wood rafts could have made the journey, riding the tidal flows between South America and Polynesia. The museum has a reconstructed Kon-Tiki raft, along with the RA, a second life threatening trip from Egypt to Latin America, a long with the story, artifacts of these amazing journeys that earned the documentaries about them numerous awards including an Oscar. It was one of the coolest things that we did on our trip. A must see!

Melissa D.

Yelp

Small but informative and a really cool story of some crazy Nordic adventurers. This was really enjoyable. We took a ferry out to this area which was really nice as well. I like how this same adventurer took a group with a monkey and a duck across the Atlantic. Nordic folk are wild.

Chun P.

Yelp

The Kon Tiki and the Ra II original boats...groovy! I think I actually read 75% of the information available...usually its more like 10%...much more interesting than I expected. Included with the Oslo Pass...check it out!

Christopher W.

Yelp

Liked the movie, writings, photos, and exhibits about the Kon-Tiki and related expeditions. Did not realize there was a similar trip across the Atlantic, and one across the Atlantic that ended in a sunken raft 350 miles from the destination area. Two boats are there to see - Kon-Tiki and the raft used to cross the Atlantic. Sorry to say the academic theory the expedition organizer (Thor Heyerdahl) sought to prove is still speculative, but not obviously wrong. Thor Heyerdahl was audacious, confident, reckless, and must have been hugely persuasive. He had one actual sailor for the trip on Kon-Tiki. His crew included bold Norwegians, including a hero who helped prevent the Nazi forces in WWII from developing a nuclear bomb. The Kon-Tiki crew spent 101 days on a raft, helping to prove that Polynesia could have been settled from Peru. Thankfully, museum was not too crowded around midday on a Wednesday in late August. Got the $35 ticket that included Fram Polar, Kon-Tiki, and National Maritime - all excellent museums.

Laura H.

Yelp

Worst place to visit. Absolutely no interesting history here. A sad excuse for a museum.

Helen H.

Yelp

Get in free with the oslo pass. A small museum dedicated to kon tiki next to the other two museums (cant remember the names of the top of my head, sorry) so if you go to those you might as well go to this one. Truthfully I kind of just walked through this place and glimpsed at the two boats (main highlight of the place) and called it a day because I'm not a kon tiki fan (never seen the movie either) so i can't say much about this place expect if your a kon tiki fan you probably would like this place and the gift shop but as for me.....i was happy their was a snack stand outside lol. You can take the ferry or the bus to here (ferry is free with oslo pass I'm pretty sure) Overall, I think unless your a kon tiki fan or have a oslo pass don't pay to go here. It didnt grab my attention so it wasn't that impressive, but an okay museum none the less.

Carol K.

Yelp

I probably would not have gone in here had it not been included in my Oslo pass but I am happy that I did. I took the ferry over to Bygdoy on a rainy day looking for some indoor activities. On this peninsula are several museums, my two favorites being the Viking museum and this one. I had forgotten all about the Kon-Tiki movie but even if you haven't seen it or read the book - you will be engaged by this place. Follow the story around the room clockwise to best understand what they were trying to prove with this voyage. It's pretty engaging albeit brief. I doubt that I would pay to see this but as part of my pass I'm glad I took a look around.

Kelly K.

Yelp

I visited this museum a few years ago and really enjoyed learning all about the Kon-Tiki voyage. I recommend a stop here if you are visiting Norway.

Kevin W.

Yelp

The story of the KonTiki voyages are very interesting, and this museum does a great job of telling it. It's really great to see the boats on display, along with video and pictures. The museum is very simply laid out but there is plenty to see. As with the other Oslo museums, it's very easy to get to, being at a bus stop site. My favourite museum in Oslo

Danielle F.

Yelp

This was another very interesting museum that was part of our day visit to Bygdøy. It is located very close to the ferry stop that takes you to and from central Oslo, so we ended up making this our last stop in the area before heading back. It is definitely worth timing your visit so that you don't have to linger too long after in terms of catching the ferry back to Oslo. This museum admission was included with our Oslo City Pass. I wish I had seen the original Kon-Tiki movie before visiting the museum, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Among the highlights include the Kon-Tiki and Ra rafts used to test theories about whether early inhabitants of the Americas could have reached the Pacific Islands. There are a variety of displays detailing the voyages and the vessels that they used. Additionally, there is a lot of information about the mastermind of these expeditions, Thor Heyerdahl. Some of the exhibits get a little cheesy for adults, but I think kids will thoroughly enjoy this museum.

Mike V.

Yelp

This smaller museum documents a pretty huge feat of creativity and open ocean navigation. The video and the kon tiki raft are the high points. The only downside is because of the size and the proximity to the ferry, it gets very crowded (in season). I've been twice, both in March and May, and its much more fun before the ferry starts running and you get it all to yourself.

Fidelio L.

Yelp

After experiencing the other 2 museums within walking distance from this museum (ie. Norway Maritime and Fram), my girlfriend and I just breezed through this one. We weren't really into the exhibitions presented. There's a snack stand right outside the museum that sells ice cream, etc. We walked in at around 13:00 on a Sunday, and it was much more crowded than the other 2 museums. Comes free with the Oslo Pass, which also includes the ferry to get there. Ferry drops you off at the dock right in front of the 3 museums.

Matthew C.

Yelp

Everyone recommends the Kon Tiki museum, and with the movie coming out it is a good time to go. Thor Heyerdahl is a man obsessed with sailing on boats that most people would avoid, and you certainly see that at the museum. I had heard of Kon Tiki, but his efforts with Ra and Ra II got my attention even more. The price is only 40 NOK for students, so that is nice.

Andrew T.

Yelp

The most amazing thing about this museum is that the original Kon-Tiki is on display. I feel like they don't make a big enough deal about this - there should be signs everywhere. Maybe I missed it, but it was almost hard to confirm that it was the real thing. A good series of information about the preparations for the Kon-Tiki journey, and the difficulties encountered en route circles the ship. In addition to Kon-Tiki, there's a replica of Ra I, and similar information about theat journey and its results. And there's a few other things, like a section on Easter Island. The museum has a bit of a double focus - half Kon-Tiki and half Thor Heyerdahl, but that only makes sense. One thing I didn't realize was how young Heyerdahl was when the Kon-Tiki made its voyage - it was barely post WWII, and he seems to have just made up his mind that he was going to do it - and only then bothered to figure out (quite successfully) how he would accomlish the task. Again, the Oslo Pass makes this visit free - it's worth spending a little time here if you're out on Bygdøy doing a little museum hopping. Remember, the Bygdøy ferry is also free with the Oslo card.

Christopher G.

Yelp

I'm a sucker for Kon Tiki, as my father gave me the book to read as a boy and I've picked it up several times since. It's a great story: inspirational, exciting, educational, and best of all, it's all true. The museum is simple and small, and that's the best part about it. As others have said, the layout is a bit odd, and the story doesn't necessarily flow as well as it could, but I really got a kick out of seeing the raft and some good photos. If you haven't read the book or seen the documentary (or the recent dramatic film) then grab a copy of each on your way out. It will give context to what you saw in the museum; hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I have for the past twenty-five years!

Qype User (Lauris…)

Yelp

As one of those who was amazed on their childhood, reading about Thor Heyerdals trip from Peru to the Tuamato islands in Polynesia in 1947, this museum was on my 'must see' list in Oslo. Heyerdals purpose of this voyage was to prove Heyerdal's theory of ancient immigration from South-America to Polynesia. Within museum you can find pictures and things about their travels to Galapagos, Easter Island, papirus boats Ra I and II, as well the Tigris.Childhood dream come true! :) Even if Im not a child anymore, my first thought, while I was looking at rafts,was the same as back in a days.....I wish I could do that too! I can remmember how much was the ticket,but Im pretty sure the best way is to buy so called a

Plain V.

Yelp

During a trip to the Norwegian capital we also visited this little museum. In contrast to the Fram Museum opposite the square on Bygdoy, I was deeply impressed by the story the museum brought about with rather simple means the story of a scientist, who not only sat at his desk and came up with anthropologic theories, but also trying (and managing) to prove them in practice. Worth a visit.

Julie N.

Yelp

Loved this museum. Lots of information about Thor Hyerdaul and his many expeditions. To see his ships in person brings history and adventure to life.

Jessica I.

Yelp

While one of my Norwegian in-laws is fond of referring to the Kon-Tiki as "a pile of hay bales," I quite enjoyed my visit here. It's pretty small, but it's packed with great information and stories. You get to see the Kon-Tiki and the Ra II, meet the men who sailed on them, and read about the amazing journeys they took. I had a new respect for Thor and his team after leaving here.

Mike B.

Yelp

a quick-to-see museum which highlights Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition, this is worth a glance if you're in the area (which as I said in previous reviews, there are other museums there). the Kon-Tiki raft was built to test a theory that pre-Columbian people of the Americas might have been able to reach the Pacific Islands. they have a mock-up of the ship as well as documents and other memorabilia from the journey. some other exhibits on Pacific Island culture and naval exhibitions are on display here. again, I kind of wished there was more on display. if you're interested in naval exploration, you might be let down a bit by how fast you'll go through the whole place, but it's still probably worth a (preferably discounted) trip to.

Christina L.

Yelp

This is a museum of the explorer who traveled to the tiki island with his raft. It was pretty cool to see the actual boat/raft. It's a nice visit. If you're not too interested, it is a quick 15 minute walk through.

Paula Z.

Yelp

Superb walk through Thor Heyerdahl's Life Oeuvre and adventures. Can you tell that I've devoured all his books and seen all the films? A must-see, just across from the Fram Museum, but just as unforgettable. Included in Oslo Pass.

Mrs. E.

Yelp

This was definitely an interesting museum, though not necessarily my favorite in Scandinavia. The layout is odd but the story is for sure unique and enthralling. I'd put it on par with the Fram museum which is right next door.

Casey J.

Yelp

I enjoyed this little museum. It's not large, but the great info on the expedition. When in Oslo, go see the kon-tiki.

Kon-Tiki Museum

Kon-Tiki Museum

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