Attractions

With five floors and over 100 interactive, hands-on exhibits, we have something fun to entertain all ages. Tour Edinburgh’s streets without moving. Test your brain against mind-bending illusions. Take spectacular cityscape photographs from our Rooftop Terrace. It’s all part of the Camera Obscura & World of Illusions experience.

Situated just a stone’s throw from Edinburgh Castle, at the top of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, come and discover the first ever purpose built visitor attraction in Edinburgh and see history and modern marvels together under one roof.

Immerse yourself in Bewilderworld, a collection of our most popular, biggest and most fun illusions. A scramble for the senses, which will leave you feeling fully bewildered! Make sure to take pictures, they’ll be the most unusual souvenirs to share with friends.

Lose yourself in our magical Mirror Maze, a bamboozling jumble of hallways that seemingly stretch for miles. Will you make it to the other side? Get ready for a mystifying, turning, tilting, twisting, crazy experience like no other! The Vortex Tunnel is a highlight of any visit. This discombobulating spinning tunnel will confuse and baffle all ages. Can you walk through without losing your balance? 

See Edinburgh from a different vantage point. Discover Victorian and 3D cityscapes alongside our viewcams, powerful modern cameras showcasing the city in real time. 

Get interactive and use our cameras and mirrors to view yourself and the world around you in a new way. You can zoom in on the very small with our marvellous microscopes and make sure to see your reflection in the Victorian inspired bendy mirrors, which are almost impossible to look at without laughing. Once you travel through the Infinity Corridor you’ll find a captivating display of photos of old Edinburgh, showing what life was like when the Camera Obscura first opened in the 1850s, a fascinating insight into how the city has changed.

Our Thermal Camera offers you the chance to see just how hot, or cold you are and the gallery also houses the Singing Cats, and other wonderfully detailed automata. There are also lots of tricky optical illusions to keep you on your toes.

Light Fantastic is a filled with interactive fun, tricks, and illusions – many unique to Camera Obscura. We’ll mess with your mind (in the best possible way) as your eyes are fooled by brilliant visual effects.

Start your journey with our brand-new Kaleido Tunnel, a fantastic array of light and reflections. Stand opposite someone and count how many versions of them you can see! Next up is a selection of holograms, an amazing set of unique, 3D images ready to come to life before your eyes. Step into a world of colour at our Colour Shadow Wall, to see yourself reflected into mutli colour. Are you a musical maestro? Beam out a song with our Light Harp, and see the notes light up as you tap out a tune.

The Ames Room is a brilliant piece of trickery, which can shrink and grow you instantly; a great photo opportunity for the whole family. Once you’ve returned to your original size, you can try the Severed Head. This clever illusion makes it look as if your head is being served for dinner, a wacky photo might upset the relatives!

The Magic Gallery houses some of our most electrifying exhibits, a great variety of cool optical illusions and hands-on, interactive experiences. Like every aspect of your visit, it's also great fun!

The Magic Gallery Plasma Tubes and Globes bring electricity right to your fingertips. You can literally light up the room by using your hands to connect our giant Plasma Ball to a light tube on the wall. Don't worry if you feel the spark as a tiny shock - it's a very small current, which is quite safe.

Explore classic optical illusions including maddening magic eye pictures and mind-bending mirrors. Become a 'big head' with the giant lens. Swap noses and heads with your friends, or shake hands with yourself. Don't miss the Shadow Wall, which captures your shadow in a flash! 

High above this World Heritage Site, our Rooftop Terrace offers a blockbuster panorama of Edinburgh’s famous attractions. It’s an unbeatable vantage point, unless you’ve packed a hot air balloon in your suitcase. The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, the Firth of Forth – all your favourites are here.

Now get even closer. Use the telescopes to take in the view – they’re completely free. These powerful lenses will swoop you right down to the action on Princes Street Gardens, or all the way up to Arthur’s Seat. And that’s the Kingdom of Fife you can see to the north. Take it all at your own pace, high above the Royal Mile’s crowds and queues.

A dark room. A large table. A beam of light. When you walk into our special rooftop chamber, things seem pretty straightforward. But wait...

An image of Edinburgh appears on the table. The narrow closes of the Old Town. The wide open streets of the New Town. What happens next is like nothing you’ve seen before.

The Camera Obscura uses daylight and reflections to project a live image internally onto a table within a dark chamber. In daylight hours, your guide will take you on a live tour, showing off some of the city’s best landmarks.

After dark or in poor weather, we offer a fantastic projection show, showing-off the same magnificent views observed from the Camera Obscura, with footage recorded from the very top of our tower during daylight hours.