The Kon-Tiki's epic journey is a wonderful tale of courage and daring, and as a side note, ended up reinvigorating the 1930s Polynesian décor craze in the U.S. It also pushed the word “tiki” into common usage.
The Kon-Tiki expedition of the 1940s was led by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl who wanted to prove that oceanic travel from South America to the Polynesian islands was possible. He constructed a raft out of balsa wood and other materials natives at that time would have used, and with his crew successfully completed the journey from Peru to Polynesia in 101 days, covering 4,300 square miles of ocean.
This magnificent museum on Bygdoy peninsula is a permanent home for the actual Kon-Tiki raft, along with a boat from later expeditions. The museum is well thought-out in terms of display and has an excellent, beautifully curated collection, and conveys a South Seas atmosphere throughout.
Again, the more you know beforehand the more meaningful your visit will be. I wish I had thought to reread Heyerdahl’s book about the trip before we came here! They play the Oscar-winning documentary (the actual Oscar is here, too) at the museum, but catch it before you arrive if you can.
They also have a wonderful gift shop, where I bought my beautiful Kon-Tiki cover travel journal. Sadly, I should have bought a few more of them, because they don’t sell them online. Next time!