Fram Museum Oslo: The polar ship you can board

If you see a giant triangular building on the Bygdøy peninsula that looks like a glass-and-wood tent, you’ve found one of the best museums in Norway. While the Viking Ship Museum gets the fame (and is closed until 2027), the Fram Museum delivers the experience. It houses the Fram, the "strongest wooden ship ever built", used by polar explorers Nansen, Sverdrup, and Amundsen to reach the furthest points North and South on the globe.

Unlike most maritime museums where you stare at models behind glass, here you board the actual ship. You can walk the deck where Amundsen stood before conquering the South Pole, explore the cramped cabins where the crew lived for years frozen in ice, and smell the authentic scent of tar and century-old oak. Many visitors walk in, see the massive Fram, and leave. They miss the Gjøa Building entirely. Connected by an underground tunnel, this separate wing houses the Gjøa, the first ship to navigate the Northwest Passage. It is smaller, grittier, and often empty of tourists.

Combine your visit with the Kon-Tiki Museum next door. They sell combined tickets as slightly discounted prices.