Bygdøy - fun for the entire family
The Bygdøy Peninsula is home to several of Norway's most popular and family-friendly museums. Get your senses and your imagination going as you step aboard the world's strongest wooden ship, hike through the caves of the Galapagos, or visit Oslo in the olden days.
In the footsteps of great adventurers
Along the fjord of Bygdøynes, an area of Bygdøy, you can find three popular museums: The Fram Museum, The Kon-Tiki Museum, and the Norwegian Maritime Museum.
Fram is the world's strongest wooden ship. At the Fram Museum you can go aboard and see how the ship's crew lived when they visited the world's coldest and most dangerous places: the Arctic and Antarctica.
Kon-Tiki is the name of explorer Thor Heyerdahl's famous balsa raft used to cross the Pacific Ocean in 1947. At the Kon-Tiki Museum you can get the sense of the Pacific way of life aboard the raft. You can also go cave exploring and have a look at exotic underwater creatures – but beware of the whale shark!
The Norwegian Maritime Museum offers Norwegian maritime history through interactive exhibitions, model boats and engaging films. In the museum's newest exhibition, Explore the Ocean, you can discover the ocean below sea level through magical activities.
Children will not only learn about the ocean's many mythical creatures and newly discovered species, but also about plastic pollution.
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Magical travels back in time
It's a short trip from Bygdøynes to Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Folk Museum). Here you can travel back in time and quite literally walk through hundred years of history. Get fascinated by dark stave churches, picture life in one of the yawned cottages – or try to squeeze the whole family into a worker's apartment from the eighteen hundreds.
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A place for human rights
From older history to our own time: in a polarised and uneasy world, a visit to the Holocaust Centre presents a good opportunity to talk about human rights and equality. The centre, The Norwegian Centre for Holocaust and Minority Studies, boasts of a permanent exhibition on the Holocaust, where the fate of the Norwegian Jews during the Second World War is the prime focus.
In the centre's newest building, MINO, you can find the exhibition IN/VISIBLE – Everyday racism in Norway. The exhibition showcases interviews of minorities and reflects on the invisible racism which can be difficult to acknowledge if you aren't directly affected by it.
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Where to eat
Humans of all ages get hungry after they explore and play. Thankfully, there are plenty of museum cafes at Bygdøy perfect for a break in between all the exploration.
How to get there
In summer, the Bygdøy Ferry is by far the most enjoyable way to get to the peninsula. It will take you from the city centre and across the fjord to the museums in just 15-20 minutes.
Bus No. 30 (with its many departure times) is a good option year-round. The bus stops at all the museums on Bygdøy, and the trip from Nationaltheatret only takes 15 minutes. Timetable and stops can easily be found using Ruter's travel planner.
It's also worth considering getting to Bygdøy on your own. Use a city bike and follow the harbour promenade in the direction of Frognerkilen.