Museum of Illusions Denver Review

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If you live in the Denver area, perhaps you’ve already heard about the Museum of Illusions on 16th St. downtown. It’s become quite a hot spot for family outings, date nights, and a fun place to stop when downtown. We recently visited and honestly, had way more fun than we expected. Here were all our favorite parts and why your family will have a blast (and come home with some unique memories!).

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Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Museum of Illusions and what to expect on your visit. Reserve your spot today for a memorable family experience.

Disclosure: We were given tickets to the museum in hopes of a review if we enjoyed it. This review is based off our personal experience and is my own opinion.

Where is the Museum?

The museum is located right at 16th Street Mall at the corner of Curtis Street. If you take the light rail into downtown, you can get off at 16th and California station or 16th and Stout station. Then it’s just a short walk.

Where to park for the Museum of Illusions in Denver

There are many parking garages or parking lots around 16th St. mall in Denver. We chose to park at the center for performing arts parking garage. It’s located on 14th and Arapahoe.

Plan Your Day

Here’s what you need to know to visit:

Address: 951 16th Street Mall

Hours: 10 am – 9 pm (open till 10 Friday/Saturday)

Tickets: Starting at $23, Ages 1-4 are free! Purchase ahead of time online

Photos: Yes! Photos are highly encouraged and make some of the illusions even cooler. Charge up your phone and take plenty of pictures.

girl in pink and white stripe shirt against an orange and white striped wall spinning shapes on the wall

What is the Museum of Illusions?

The museum in Denver opened in late September or 2024. It was featured around the area as a unique and “mind boggling” experience .

That, it is.

The museum features exhibits that will make your mind a bit confused. How is that happening? How am I seeing that? Why can’t I walk straight?

When you can’t figure it out or aren’t sure what to look for, check the plaque by each exhibit to explain how the illusion works.

While some illusions will make sense, some require some head scratching. Those are the best ones.

Experiences at the Museum

The museum is full of interesting experiences. Watch as rings spin on each other while in motion. Defy the laws of gravity in a bus. Climb like Spiderman up the front walls of a building.

There are a lot of mirrors at play in the museum, along with spinning motions and warped floors to make you wonder why you can’t walk straight.

The first area contains mirror illusions and spinning objects that make things appear different than they really are.

four kids doing handstands on bus seats at the museum of illusions denver

But our favorite was the upside down bus. This experience is fun to play around with, and it gets even better when you rotate your photo. Try out all different positions for fun photos.

Next you can step into what seems like the inside of a prism where you’ll find an infinite number of yourself!

My kids loved the invisible box where it appeared their head was being served on a platter.

kids and adults seemingly climbing up the front wall of a building, one girl hanging upside down from a balcony

Our other very favorite one was a brick building where we were able to appear as if we were climbing up the wall or hanging off a balcony. We got lots of fun positions on this one to create mind-boggling photos. Definitely spend some time at this one if you can!

There is a fun exhibit that is kind of like your mirror on the car… “things are closer than they appear”. Here, you can make kids look smaller than they really are, all with illusions!

kids walking through a dark tunnel with blue squares projects all over the walls in rows at the museum of illusions in denver

The exhibit my kids LOVED was the spinning tunnel. It’s really just a flat walkway, but I bet you can’t make it across without falling! (Just hang on to the rails to stay safe.) I did not like this one as much 😵‍💫. Don’t go in here if you have balance problems or else your head will be spinning for a while.

There are also lots of ways to experience “infinity”, where things never end. The mirror situations are all really interesting, and at one exhibit we even got to blend two people together in a mirror illusion.

Best Parts of the Museum

All the exhibits were pretty cool. The best part for us was that we hadn’t seen a lot of these illusions before. We loved how unique and even innovative some of the things were. They made for very fun photos. When we show other people the pictures, they’re really confused as to what is happening!

boy in a dark room with his hands up making colorful shadows on a pink and purple lit wall

What we Wish…

The whole thing was really awesome. It was a bit smaller than we expected. For what tickets cost, I thought the time inside would last longer.

However, you have to remember that it’s at a prime location in Denver, right on 16th street. This has its own costs and provides a lot of convenience for anyone visiting downtown. After you walk out, you’re within steps of plenty of restaurants and other activities.

Plus, many of the exhibits don’t require an entire room to themselves, so the space feels smaller even with plenty of experiences.

Other Highlights

Did you enjoy the many illusions?

As you finish and head out, you’ll walk through the gift shop area. Here you’ll find lots of mind benders, puzzles, and fun souvenirs to continue this experience as you go home.

pentagon borderslit up white in a dark abyss

How Long to Spend at the Museum of Illusions

Despite my comment above that it was smaller than I expected, we actually spent over an hour inside. We went on a weekday during the late morning when it wasn’t too crowded, so we were able to move through quickly.

There were plenty of exhibits the kids wanted to re-visit or spend a while at. Plus the photo op exhibits took a little longer to make sure we got every awesome pose possible.

If you visit on a weekday, plan for a bit over an hour. If you head over on a weekend when it’s more crowded, you’ll need more time to get through.

What to do After the Museum

As mentioned, the museum sits right on 16th street. The mall area has been updated and it is a beautiful area to hang out for the day.

Modern Market is right across the street if you want more of a fresh and healthy meal.

If you visit for date night, head to Panzano on 17th, just behind the museum for a nicer sit-down dinner.

And if you have the kids (which you should definitely bring!), walk down the mall a couple blocks for the Mellow Mushroom where you’ll get creative entrees and lots of pizza options.

(We’ve been to all those restaurants and they’re all delicious).

Host Your Event at the MOI-Denver

If you’re looking for a fun team-building activity or somewhere unique to have a birthday party in Denver, the Museum of Illusions can host you!

You can even have a wedding here for pictures no one else probably has.

Photographers can contact the museum to do professional sessions.

Whatever your next gathering is, this is definitely a fun and unique spot to do it.