Scientist and ecologist Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean on the balsa raft Kon-Tiki is the stuff of legend, commemorated in a bijou museum on Oslo's Bygdøy peninsula. The centerpieces of the museum are the models of his two best-known craft, the Kon-Tiki and the papyrus-constructed Ra II, designed from drawings found on ancient Egyptian and South American scrolls. On these rafts Heyerdahl eventually crossed the Atlantic in 1970. There's plenty here to fascinate older kids, from the true-life gung-ho adventure to the menacing sub-zero cavewalk in the basement, and the flickering, black-and-white footage of sharks playing in the ocean dangerously close to the Kon-Tiki.

The year 2014 celebrated the centenary of Heyerdahl's birth with a documentary focused on life aboard Kon-Tiki, narrated by one of Heyerdahl's fellow crew members. At the time of writing the museum was being upgraded and it is not certain how the displays will change.