Located in the Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica’s once-famous shopping, dining, and entertainment district, the Museum of Illusions opened in November 2025 as the Los Angeles area’s mirror image of Las Vegas’s Paradox Museum. Relatively small but highly Instagrammable, the Museum of Illusions features multiple mirrored and distorted rooms for taking impossible photographs, a spinning “vortex” room to throw you off balance, and numerous optical illusions. Small collections of holograms, puzzles, and infinity tunnels are also fun – mostly for younger kids – and there’s a nice little gift shop at the beginning/end of the experience with wood, metal, and plastic puzzles, stuffed toys, and branded clothing.
Expect to spend less than an hour exploring the exhibits, with tickets typically in the $30 (kids) to $35 (adults) range before online discounts; employees note that once your hand is stamped for the day, you can repeat the loop of exhibits to get more value out of the ticket price. Parking in a nearby public parking lot will likely be free for the duration of your visit, unless you spend a bunch of additional time exploring the Promenade.
