Fram Museum is a polar exbition museum located just outside of the main city center in Oslo. It’s main attraction is the wooden ship “Fram” that was used by Fritjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen for arctic expeditions to both the arctic and the antarctic.
Many people consider Fram Museum to be the best museum in all of Oslo, especially when you consider the fact that the Viking Ship Museum is closed until 2026. This amazing polar expedition museum has two full-sized ships (real ones, not replicas) and plenty of original equipment from the polar expeditions.
The Fram Museum is a modern, interactive museum that is a lot of fun for both children and adults. You get to learn all about different polar and arctic expeditions and the extreme conditions they had to survive to explore these remote places.
What makes Fram Museum worth a visit
Polar expeditions have been a big part of Norway’s history, and this museum does a good job at showcasing the importance of these expeditions. The great thing about the museum is that it’s not a big, old museum with a lot of text based expeditions, but rather a modern and interactive museum that aims to be both fun and educational at the same time.
This is a museum that the children will enjoy, and there’s just something special about exploring the inside of the real Fram ship that was originally built in 1892. The ship still holds the record for the wooden ship that has traveled furthest north and south, and most people consider it to be the world’s strongest wooden ship.
The museum is not only about the ships though. A big part of the polar expeditions were about getting from the place where they could anchor the ships until the actual poles, which is a chapter in itself. Learn all about how the crew managed to survive the unforgiving arctic winter on their way to the south pole, and all the different challenges they faced.
All of the items in the exhibition is available in English, so you won’t miss out on anything even if you don’t understand Norwegian.
And as with most museums, there’s a small cafeteria and a gift shop where you can pick up books and other items related to the polar expeditions. They are the official publication for transcriptions of the original diaries from some of the crew, which can be bought, and will provide a new insights into what these expeditions were really like.
Entrance fee for Fram Museum
The tickets to enter Fram Museum are 140 NOK ($15) for adults and 50 NOK ($5.5) for children and students. You can buy tickets online in advance, or at the entrance when you arrive, but the price is the same regardless.
The entrance to the museum if free if you got the Oslo Pass. It’s also possible to book admission tickets below:
How to get to Fram Museum
You can get to the Fram Museum either by ferry (during the summer only), or by regular bus. The museum is very close to the city center in an area called Bygdøy. It’s about 20 minutes with bus, ferry or taxi, and 1 hour and 30 minutes if you decide to walk.
To get there by ferry, go to Rådhuset and board the Bygdøynes ferry. The ferry stops just a short walk from the museum. The public ferry is actually a good method of getting there, and it’s much cooler than riding a bus in my opinion. Keep in mind that the ferry only operates between April and October.
The bus operates all year round, and you can get on the bus line 30 to get to Bygdøy where the Fram Museum is. This bus leaves from Nationalteateret stop in the middle of Oslo city every 7 to 10 minutes.
You can also reach Fram Museum from the Oslo Hop-On Hop-Off Bus tour:
Some people might prefer to walk to Fram Museum, and it’s a perfectly fine option. Just keep in mind that it’s a pretty long walk! The good part of this walk is that you get to explore most of Oslo along the way, and will be walking right by the Royal Castle, Solli Plass, Karl Johans gate and plenty of beautiful buildings. The walk on Bøgdøy itself is very beautiful, and highly recommended!
Fram Museum opening times
Fram Museum is open all year round, and the regular opening times is from 11:00 to 17:00.
The opening times are longer in July and August (which is the primary tourism season), so it’s open from 10:00 until 18:00 during the summer.