Kon-Tiki Museum

The Kon-Tiki Museum tells the story of adventure and overcoming that Thor Heyerdahl lived with his crew to cross the Pacific Ocean aboard a wooden raft which he christened Kon-Tiki.

The museum's exhibits revolve around the Kon-Tiki boat, which undertook a 7,000-kilometre (4,349-mile) voyage into the unknown.

The leader of the expedition, a Norwegian man named Thor Heyerdahl, had spent over 20 years obsessed with the idea of exploring the world. When he was just 11 years old, he marvelled at the resemblance between the stone statues on one of the Pacific islands and those in South America.

At the age of 33, he decided to test his theory and face the impossible, setting sail from the coast of Peru into the vastness of the Pacific on a small wooden raft, aboard which only one of the men had any sailing knowledge.

After 101 days at sea, the expedition ended successfully. The raft reached land, the coast of Polynesia, changing the conception of the first sea voyages, but above all the lives of the courageous sailors who took part in the adventure.

This expedition was followed by other exciting voyages, such as the one to Easter Island, or those that crossed the Atlantic aboard the Ra and Ra II boats, from Morocco to Barbados.

Visiting the museum

The Kon-Tiki Museum is quite small but well worth a visit. It's really interesting to see the exhibits since you can discover the history behind each of the items on display.

If you like museums related to the maritime world, you can also take advantage of your visit to the Bygdøy peninsula to see the Viking Ship Museum and the Fram Museum.