We had such a great time at this cool new “museum” that just opened in Zürich in June 2020. It has a bunch of “rooms of illusions” with all sorts of crazy optical illusions and interactive activities. The best part for our family was the photo rooms, where you can capture animated GIFs of you inside weird environments, like the one below. My kids wanted to do this over and over.
People of all ages, from young children to teens to adults, will have fun here. It’s very sensory oriented and doesn’t require much explanation, which means young kids can easily engage and enjoy the experience without understanding what’s really going on. The staff are ready to help and very friendly, giving you special insight on various installations and even doing magic tricks, which was a big hit with my kids. I’d plan for about 90 mins and encourage you to take your time, not hurry through each room.
Contents
Thanks to WOW Museum for hosting our visit. All opinions expressed here are our own.
| Location: | Zürich city |
| Address: | Werdmühlestrasse 10, 8001 Zürich |
| Car: | closest to Urania parking garage Uraniastrasse 3, 8001 Zürich |
| Train: | short walk from Zürich HB or Bahnhofstrass/HB tram stop |
| Open: | Wed to Sun, see opening times below |
| Price 2023: | Adult CHF 23, Child 6-16 CHF 16, under 6 free, Family CHF 73 with up to 4 children |
| Services: | WC, gift shop |
| More info: | www.wow-museum.ch |
Getting There
It’s best to come by public transportation since the WOW Museum is right in the center of Zürich city next to the main train station.
By public transportation: The museum is very close to Zürich HB, as shown on the map below. If you are coming by tram, the closest tram stops are Bahnhofstrass/HB and Bahnhofquai/HB.
By car: If you are arriving by car, Parkhaus Urania is the closest. It’s a 5 min walk to the museum as shown below.
Opening Times
This new museum is permanent, not a temporary installation. It’s open Wed to Sun at the following times (closed Mon and Tues).
Mon 10:00 – 20:00
Tues closed
Wed 10:00 – 20:00
Thu 10:00 – 20:00 (15% reduced entry fee)
Fri 10:00 – 22:00
Sat 9:00 – 22:00
Sun 9:00 – 20:00
Tickets
Since time slots do sell out, it’s best to book your tickets online. You can enter the museum anytime during your hour time slot. Plan to spend about 60-90 mins in the museum.
In 2023, tickets cost Adult CHF 23, Students CHF 19, Child (6-16) CHF 16, Child (2-5) CHF 5, under 2 free. They offer a family ticket for CHF 73 that includes 2 adults and up to 4 children aged 6 to 16. Discount with Zürich Card. Thursdays are 15%
At first I thought it was little pricey for a family outing. But honestly, we were fully entertained for almost 2 hours and we had lots of great interactions together, making a lot of great shared memories.
Tips for your visit
Definitely bring your fully-charged phone. Many room have you scan a QR code to activate a special photo booth, then you can download the photos. The museum provides free Wi-fi, necessary when you are in the underground floors that have poor cell coverage. Older kids will want their phones too because there are lots of fun photo activities throughout the museum.
When you enter the museum, you get this little card. There are 12 illusion puzzles scattered through the museum. You enter your answers on this card then turn it in at the end for a chance to win a prize. The puzzles are tricky but not impossible. The staff are happy to help you answer them because it’s just for fun, not to drive you crazy.
If you are bringing a stroller, but you’ll need to leave it in the coat room as some of the rooms and corridors are narrow and there are stairs.
They have lockers with a key in the coat room. I recommend storing as much of your stuff as possible so you can be mostly hands-free during your visit and be able to more freely interact with the exhibits.
The museum does not have a cafe, but there are lots of restaurants and fast food options in the vicinity, especially in the train station.
Around the museum
Most of the rooms are so multi-dimensional that a flat photo doesn’t capture at all what it feels like. But I’ll try my best. Some of the photo booths do animated GIFs that capture the illusion better than a pic. So definitely choose the GIF option when using the photo booths. We could have done this all day. The kids kept chanting: “Again! Again! Again!”
Some of the rooms have funny shapes and mirrors that distort proportions. We took a lot of pics in these trying to capture the feeling but it’s much much weirder than it looks in the pics.
This was one of our favorite rooms. The big green wall on the right is actually the floor. You can activate the photo booth and do crazy poses, then download your pics.
Our other favorite room was the “intersteller” infinity space room. You just have experience it! It looks and feels like you are floating in space – loved loved loved it! On the right, my kids had fun doing spider hands in the kaleidoscope.
There are lots of clever visual tricks like this ladder that looks like it goes into pool. My son wasn’t sure he could step on it.
My kids were obsessed with this lego wall and insisted on writing our blog name on it.
Mirror tricks in many rooms.
There’s a tiny elf named Willow that lives at the museum and if you look closely you can see his footprints, tiny office and other evidence hidden around the museum. This is a fun extra for little kids.
Upstairs you’ll find the “lab” where there are some hands-on activities and smaller visual illusions that aren’t completely immersive like other rooms.
We really bonded as a family during our visit, always my goal for a family outing. I hope you enjoy it.
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2 responses
Kids 2-5 now pay 5 CHF entrance fee. Plus updated open times:
Mo 10 – 20
Di geschlossen
Mi 10 – 20
Do 10 – 20 (15% reduced entry fee)
Fr 10 – 22
Sa 09 – 22
So 09 – 20
Thanks for the info. I’ve updated the post accordingly.