Museum of Illusions in Zagreb – Visit Croatia Review

One November morning, Visit Croatia popped along to the Museum of Illusions in Zagreb to enjoy the illusions and tricks on the eye in this relatively new museum. See what we thought!

Visiting the Museum of Illusions in Zagreb

A rainy, grey Saturday morning in Zagreb is an ideal time to visit a museum – especially a relatively new one, and a quirky one to boot. It seems like many other people in Zagreb had the same idea that morning, judging by the queue to get into the Museum of Illusions and the number of people inside! * (see note below)

Luckily, the entrance down a small covered alleyway provided shelter from the rain…and the queue moved pretty quickly anyway. We were into the museum and ascending the stairs to the first floor of the museum swiftly.

Here on the first floor, you have a number of the smaller exhibits, such as the clone table (where you can play cards against several versions of yourself!); the ‘head on a platter’ trick (you can be served up as a dish!); the infinity room (a closed room of mirrors, giving the appearance of multiple versions of the room’s occupants that stretch out seemingly forever! An ideal space for ‘pulling some shapes’…); and the ‘tricks on the eye’ optical illusions. I’m not giving the game away by revealing any of these exhibits here, by the way, as they really need to be seen to be ‘believed’ and are far more impressive in real life rather than just being written about!

Heading on up to the second floor, there are some of the ‘larger’ illusions – including the anti-gravity room, where it seems gravity’s gone haywire; the Ames room, where two of you can become giant and miniaturised versions of yourselves; and the rotated room, where the world has been rotated by 90 degrees. The kaleidoscope is also super fun – where you get to be in a large kaleidoscope!

When we were there, the museum was very busy indeed and it was sometimes difficult to get to see and interact with all the exhibits, as well as take the appropriate funny snaps. But that’s of course a reflection on the popularity of the museum – and if you’re patient enough, you’ll definitely get your turn with each exhibit. (Visiting with a little one in tow who dictated patience levels meant we had to zip through most exhibits quite quickly!)

Is it worth visiting?

Is the Museum of Illusions in Zagreb worth visiting? Yes, definitely. This is one of the city’s newer museums and belongs in the same boat as some of the more quirky ones – such as the famed Museum of Broken Relationships and the Zagreb 80s Museum, to name two. There’s plenty to occupy your time, with a number of optical illusions to interact with. We’d recommend going along with a friend or two to get the most out of tricks such as the Ames Room – or, at the very least, so you can get snaps taken as one of you performs the ‘tricks’ and the other is behind the camera! It’s certainly a very visual museum and you’ll get plenty of excellent photos to share on the ‘Gram!

As for age suitability…I went with my then 4-year-old child and I’d say it was a little bit too old for her. Sure, she liked the illusions involving mirrors and couldn’t wait to try out the ‘head on a platter’ trick (although most of the fun there for her was crawling through the small tunnel!) but she didn’t quite get the fun of most of the exhibits. I’d say the museum is more suitable for kids aged 7 and older, especially pre-teens and teens. And it’s absolutely suitable and fun for adults too!

The museum is priced at a reasonable 50 Kunas for adults, 40 Kunas for students and seniors and 30 Kunas for children aged 5 to 15 years.

Museum of Illusions
Ilica 72
10000 Zagreb
muzejiluzija.com

* Note: Visit Croatia visited in November 2019, well before the pandemic and any need for social distancing. Please do check before visiting for opening hours and any visiting restrictions.