Kon-Tiki Museum
Kon-Tiki Museum features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Oslo. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Oslo Oslo guide
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About Kon-Tiki Museum
The original balsa raft that Thor Heyerdahl sailed across the Pacific in 1947, kept beside the reed boat Ra II in a Bygdøy museum to bold, contested ideas.
The Kon-Tiki Museum on Oslo's Bygdøy peninsula opened in a provisional building in 1949, with its current purpose-built home following in 1957. It houses the original Kon-Tiki, a raft of nine balsa logs up to about 14 metres long lashed with hemp rope and using no metal, on which Thor Heyerdahl and five companions crossed the Pacific in 1947. They left Callao, Peru, on 28 April and reached Raroia atoll in the Tuamotus on 7 August, a voyage of 101 days and roughly 6,980 kilometres.
Heyerdahl intended the raft to show that it was physically feasible for ancient South Americans to have drifted to Polynesia; that settlement theory is now largely rejected by scholars, who trace Polynesian origins westward through the Austronesian expansion out of Island Southeast Asia. The museum also displays Ra II, a reed boat that crossed the Atlantic in 1970, along with maps and a library of about 8,000 books. The documentary film Kon-Tiki, assembled from the crew's footage, won an Academy Award in 1951.
Did you know? The Kon-Tiki was built from nine balsa logs, some about 14 metres long, lashed together with hemp rope and carrying no metal at all, deliberately following the methods Heyerdahl believed ancient raft-builders had used.
How long is a visit to Kon-Tiki Museum?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for Kon-Tiki Museum. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Kon-Tiki Museum worth your time?
Kon-Tiki Museum is among the 22 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Oslo, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Oslo
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Kon-Tiki Museum and read more:
Day 2 of the Oslo in 2 days itinerary →Day 3 of the Oslo in 3 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Kon-Tiki Museum
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