Museums in Norway
126 museums in Norway. Most visited: National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.
Top museums in Norway
National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
Art museum · 602,546 visitors a year
The first version of Edvard Munch's The Scream, from 1893, is among the more than 400,000 works in Norway's national collection of art, architecture and design. The museum, signed in Norwegian as...
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art
Art museum
Two buildings designed by Renzo Piano on Tjuvholmen house the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art (Astrup Fearnley Museet), a privately owned collection of contemporary art. The museum moved into...
Fram Museum
The polar ship Fram stands at the centre of the Fram Museum (Frammuseet), its original interior intact so that visitors can go inside. The Scots-Norwegian shipbuilder Colin Archer designed and built...
Jewish Museum in Oslo
The Jewish Museum in Oslo (Jødisk Museum i Oslo) stands on a street where a synagogue operated from 1921 to 1942, in a neighbourhood where many Jews who came to Norway from the Baltics settled. The...
Kon-Tiki Museum
The balsa-wood raft that Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 is the reason the Kon-Tiki Museum (Kon-Tiki Museet) exists. Built on a pre-Columbian model, the...
Kunstnernes Hus
Art museum
Norway's largest gallery run by artists, Kunstnernes Hus ("Artists' House") occupies a Functionalist building on Wergelandsveien, across from the Royal Palace park. It has long been a major venue for...
MUNCH
Fourteen floors and 46 metres tall, MUNCH (Munchmuseet) occupies a tower in Bjørvika, Oslo, that its architect, Juan Herreros of Abalos & Herreros, calls Lambda. Completed in 2020 and named after the...
Munch Museum
Art museum
Welcome to the Munch Museum, a vibrant celebration of the life and work of Norway's most iconic artist, Edvard Munch. Located in the heart of Oslo, this museum invites visitors to immerse themselves...
Museum of Cultural History
Norway's largest prehistoric and medieval archaeological collections belong to the Museum of Cultural History (Kulturhistorisk museum), among them the Viking ships at Bygdøy. Run by the University of...
National Fortifications Heritage
Military museum
Sixteen Norwegian fortifications, from medieval strongholds to coastal forts built by the German Wehrmacht during World War II, are cared for together as the National Fortifications Heritage...
Natural History Museum in Oslo
Natural history museum
The fossil known as Ida, an Eocene primate of the species Darwinius masillae, is among the attractions at Norway's oldest and largest museum of natural history. Run by the University of Oslo and...
Nobel Peace Center
Dedicated to the Nobel Peace Prize and the ideals it represents, the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) is both a showcase for the prize and a place where culture and politics meet. It sets out...
Norway's Resistance Museum
Military museum
Planned together with key figures from various branches of Norway's underground forces, Norway's Resistance Museum (Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum), also known as the Norwegian Home Front Museum, tells the...
Norwegian Maritime Museum
Maritime museum
Founded in 1914, the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) is both a museum of Norway's seafaring history and a specialized archive. It is run in conjunction with the Norwegian Folk...
Norwegian Museum of Cultural History
History museum
More than 150 buildings, moved here from towns and rural districts across Norway, make up the large open-air museum at the centre of Norsk Folkemuseum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History....
Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design
Art museum
Founded in 1876, the Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (Kunstindustrimuseet) held Oslo's collection of clothing, textiles, furniture, silver, glass, ceramics and handicrafts. In 2003 it...
Norwegian Pharmacy Museum
A public area from Apoteket Hjorten, a pharmacy in Oslo, has been reconstructed inside the Norwegian Pharmacy Museum (Norsk Farmasihistorisk Museum), showing what an urban pharmacy looked like in the...
NTNU University Museum
Natural history museum
With roots in the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, which dates from 1760, the NTNU University Museum (Vitenskapsmuseet) is one of seven Norwegian university museums with both natural...
Oslo City Museum
History museum
Since 1909 the Oslo City Museum (Oslo Bymuseum) has occupied the main building of Frogner Manor (Frogner Hovedgård) in Frogner Park, where it documents the history of the city itself. Its photo...
Oslo Museum
Oslo Museum is spread across four departments in different parts of the city. Together they trace Oslo's city history and urban development, labour history, theatre history and cultural diversity....
Museums by city in Norway
Norway’s museums reflect a country shaped by sea routes, mountain communities, and strong regional identities. In Oslo, visitors can move from the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design to contemporary spaces such as Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, while other institutions focus on maritime history, design, and everyday life. Mooseum helps you compare these stops and navigate them more easily, whether you are planning a city day or a wider trip.
Beyond the capital, the museum landscape spreads across very different regions. Western towns and fjord communities preserve local craft traditions and coastal history, while inland museums such as Ål Bygdamuseum and sites within Anno Museum connect visitors with rural building styles, farming culture, and folk art. In southern Norway, places like Agder Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden bring together natural science and regional landscapes, showing how museums here often combine culture and environment.
Northern Norway adds another layer, with museums that explore Arctic life and Sámi history in a direct, place-based way. Árran is an important stop for understanding Indigenous culture, language, and contemporary life in Sápmi. Across the country, you will also find industrial heritage sites such as Atlungstad Distillery and smaller artist museums like Anders Svor Museum. On Mooseum, these varied collections are easier to discover, especially when you want to mix major institutions with local museums.
Visit Norway
Innovation Norway – Visit Norway
Official travel guide; operated by Innovation Norway.
Map of museums in Norway
Museums in Norway: questions
- How many museums are there in Norway?
- Mooseum lists 126 museums in Norway. Oslo has the most, with 29.
- Which cities in Norway have the most museums?
- Oslo (29), Trondheim (9) and Bergen (5).
- What are the most visited museums in Norway?
- By annual visitors reported on Wikipedia: National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (602,546).
- What kinds of museums are in Norway?
- Of the 64 whose type we know, the most common are art museums (20), maritime museums (7), natural history museums (6) and transport museums (6).
- Strong coverage of maritime history, coastal trade, and life shaped by the North Sea, fjords, and fishing communities
- Important museums on Sámi culture and Indigenous history, especially in northern regions
- A wide mix of art museums, from the National Museum in Oslo to smaller artist-focused collections such as Anders Svor Museum
- Open-air and regional museums that preserve timber buildings, folk traditions, farming tools, and local craft practices
- Industrial and food heritage sites, including distilleries and working cultural landscapes linked to Norwegian production history
- Museum opening hours can be shorter outside summer, especially in smaller towns and rural regions, so check ahead before making a day trip.
- In Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, public transport is usually the easiest way to combine several museums in one day; Mooseum can help you plan the route.
- Some seasonal and open-air museums are best visited from late spring to early autumn, when historic buildings, gardens, and outdoor areas are fully accessible.
- If you are traveling long distances in Norway, group museum visits by region rather than by city alone, since ferries, mountain roads, and weather can affect travel times.
All museums in Norway
Every museum in Norway listed on Mooseum. Search by name or type.
