Kon Tiki Museum, Oslo

I havn't been inside the museums for 15 years. But at that time I liked the Kontiki museum best since I was attracted to Thor Heyerdahl's travels. The Kontiki museum is smaller and more cosy than the Viking Ship Museum.
Both museums are located in the quiet resident area Bygdoy, only 5-10 minutes walk from each other. Visit them both if you have time. Taking a taxi from Oslo downtown to the museum is approx 60-100 kroner and take 10 minutes. Bus no.30 from Oslo downtown take 20 minutes and leave every 10 minutes during weekdays. I would not recommend a bus if you are in a hurry or don't know where the bus stops are.

Check out the web pages:
www.kon-tiki.no
www.khm.uio.no/vikingskipshuset/index_eng.html

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The Kon-Tiki museum shows Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions across oceans and rivers.

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian zoologist and researcher. One of his most famous expeditions is sailing the Pacific Ocean from South America to Polynesia on the Kon-Tiki raft in 1947. Sailing from Callao, in Perú, Thor and his crew embarked upon the world's largest ocean and set their sights to the Polynesia. The theory behind this is that he could prove that it was possible that South American aborigines could have sailed to those islands using simple, pre-Columbine means, like using logs from the balsa tree.

The book about his Kon-Tiki expedition became a best seller and the documentary about this travel won an Oscar for best documentary in 1951.

Along with the Kon-Tiki, you can see his papyrus boat the Ra II, which he used to sail from Morocco to Barbados. He actually started the adventure on Ra I but it sank not too far away from its final destination.

As of Sept 2009, the admission fee for an adult is 60 NOK. Free with the Oslo Pass.

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Kon-Tiki is a world-famous balsa-log raft and athough I have been aware of it from being a child I was very impressed by how large it was, so much more so than I imagined. In 1947 the young Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl and five comrades sailed it from Callao, Peru, to Raroia, Polynesia (4,266 miles). He wanted to prove that the people of Polynesia originally came from South America. He showed how ancient civilizations could have done so by using a raft like Kon-Tiki.

Besides the raft, there are other exhibits from Heyerdahl's subsequent visits to Easter Island. They include casts of stone giants and small originals, a facsimile of the whale shark, and an Easter Island family cave, with a collection of sacred lava figurines hoarded in secret underground passages by the island's inhabitants. The museum also houses the original papyrus boat Ra II, in which Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic in 1970.

There is a museum shop of course with all Thor Heyerdahl related goods and the museum takes about 45 minutes to tour around.

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Bygdøy is home to some of the most fascinating museums in Norway. Right on the docks at Bygdønes is the Kon-Tiki museum (co-located with the Fram Museum and the Naval museum). This museum has a collection of Thor Heyerdals expeditions around the world. The main attractions are the rafts Kon-Tiki and the RA1 which Thor Heyerdal used to cross the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, in 2 amazing adventures. But the museum is also packed with artifacts from for example the Easter Island expedition. Also in the basement below the Kon-Tiki raft there is a full size replica of the world largest fish that you can see "swimming" on the underside of the raft.

The anonymous building at Bygdøynes is an hidden gem that I would absolutely recommend visiting while in Oslo.

PS: This tip has 2 images, enjoy :)

From the Viking Museum, we headed over to the Kon Tiki Museum. On display were two of Thor Heyerdahl's sailing vessels, the Kon Tiki, which sailed in 1947 from Peru to Polynesia, and the Ra II, which sailed in 1970 from Morocco to the Caribbean. These vessels were actually balsa-wood rafts that not only were very small for such long journeys but didn’t look very seaworthy! I really found this museum fascinating. I love the spirit of adventure that comes from this museum (as well as the Fram Museum).

All 3 museums on Bygdoy - the Kon Tiki Museum, the Fram Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum are all must sees in Oslo.

Hours:
01.01 - 28.02: 10.30 - 15.30
01.03-31.03: 10.30 - 16.00
01.04-31.05: 10.00 - 17.00
01.06 -31.08: 09.30-17.30
01.09-30.09: 10.00 - 17.00
01.10-31.10: 10.30 -16.00
01.11 - 31.12: 10.30 - 15.30

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N.B. There are different floor levels in the exhibition areas which, in the subdued lighting, are not always seen. We saw two people trip and fall while we were there, one of whom was taken to hospital.

The Kon-Tiki Museum houses boats and artefacts from Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions including the original Kon-Tiki raft (1947) with a 30 foot whale shark below it, statues and a secret family cave from Easter Island (1956), the papyrus boat Ra II (1970), and a collection of archaeological finds from Easter Island, East Polynesia, Galapagos and Peru.
Heyerdahl was an adventurist scientific explorer who lived out his beliefs.

Tigris - only models and pictures can be seen of this vessel built in 1978 to prove that there could have been contact and cultural exchanges between the great cultures of Mesopotamia, the Indus valley and Egypt across the sea. The same Indians who built Ra II aided with the construction of this boat. This time it was built in Iraq using the local berdi reeds. At over 50 foot long and with a crew of 11, Tigris was Thor Heyerdahl’s largest reed craft. The expedition headed down the River Tigris through the Persian Gulf and into the Indian Ocean. After around 5 months the voyage came to a sudden end at the entrance to the Red Sea. Due to wars ranging all around, Tigris was not allowed leave the harbour in Djibouti.
In protest against the wars, Heyerdahl eventually set fire to Tigris.

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The Kon-Tiki Museum exhibits Thor Heyerdahl's rafts Kon-Tiki and Ra II with information about his expeditions.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the south Pacific in Pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to them at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so.

The first trip began on April 28, 1947 and lasted 101 days.

The book Kon-Tiki was a best-seller, and a documentary motion picture of the expedition won an Academy Award in 1951.

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Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of the popular book that Heyerdahl wrote about his adventures.

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the south Pacific in Pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to them at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so.

Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where they constucted a balsa wood raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style (as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores). This trip began on April 28, 1947. Accompanied by five companions, Heyerdahl sailed it for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The only modern equipment they had was a radio.

The book Kon-Tiki was a best-seller, and a documentary motion picture of the expedition won an Academy Award in 1951.

The original Kon-Tiki is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo