Bygdøy Peninsula

Home to some of Oslo’s most popular museums, I’ve visited Bygdøy Peninsula three times, in the mid 1990s, in 2010, and 2023. Almost nothing seemed to have changed between my first two visits, but plenty by the time of my third visit, particularly the introduction of digital screens everywhere, and far more tourists it seemed. The peninsula can be reached by bus or more scenically by ferry from near City Hall.

To start with the least changed and possibly my favourite, the Kon Tiki Museum. Covering the adventurous exploits of Thor Heyerdahl, it includes the original Kon Tiki balsa raft which floated across the Pacific in 1947 and the 1970 reed boat Ra II, along with information on his time on Easter Island and elsewhere in the Pacific.

The only change I noticed since 2010 was some extra information for children in places, and an annoying digital screen by the whale shark which scared the life out of me when I first visited as a child.

The Norwegian Folk Museum is apparently the largest in Norway, with over 140 buildings relocated from around the country to the extensive museum grounds. Most date from the 17th and 18th centuries and have grass covered roofs. This was probably my main memory of the place from my first visit there as a child.

I also vaguely remembered the 140 year old Stave Chuch, based on a design from the 1200s.

The older buildings are scattered around the huge site by the region which they came from, while the relatively newer ones have been grouped along a couple of cobbled streets.

The largest buildings include a number of exhibits of varying degrees of interest.

The Fram Museum is two huge A-Frame sheds containing the 1892 Fram, the strongest ship built by that time, used on three polar exhibitions, and the Gjøa, the first ship to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage.

It was much darker and hotter than I remembered, with large digital projections on the ceiling creating an atmosphere of being on rough seas and covered by ice. On the ship itself it felt like it was moving. The combination wasn’t very pleasant to be honest, true to the reality but uncomfortable to visit.

There was so much information, and so many people, that the whole thing was a bit overwhelming and exhausting to be honest.

My least favourite museum, and one I barely remember previously visiting, the Norwegian Maritime Museum is pretty traditional, with plenty of model ships and a few real ones. The most interesting area was probably on the top floor, designed for children.