Camera Obscura Reviews

A great place to explore

Lots of exhibits of weird and wonderful optical illusions and effects.

there is an awesome view of the city from the roof and the Camera Obscura itself is great fun

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Expecting a tourist trap after the big queues and crowds of the castle. Includes many floors of visual amusement. The top floor contains the camera obscure which is basically the inside of a real camera where mirrors and lenses on the roof project a real image onto a large circular disc in the middle. As well as the guide showing us historical locations around Edinburgh there was a bit of fun picking up people on the royal mile with white cards. The entrance mechanism is good as it allowed people in at a rate so it was not crowded inside and was able to look at the exhibits including such things as swapping heads, getting disoriented on a rotating bridge, classic optical illusions and much more.

Don't miss!!! Amazing illusions both old and new, the "house of mirrors" is really something, but it's the spinning barrel that wowed my family. Don't miss it!

Amazing place. The camera show at the top most floor is exciting. I was surprised that its been running since 1840 at the same place. The glass labyrinth is funny. The rolling tunnel is wonderful. It makes you really really dizzy, but the trick is to focus on the floor and try to ignore the rotating walls otherwise you might just get trapped there for a while. I think they should keep a warning there that it is not for those who feel dizzy easily. Overall one of the best places to see in Edinburgh.

2 floors appeared to be closed due to covid, however this does not deflect from how fun and cool the remaining exhibits are. Would recommend, and definitely would go again.

Great place and being so hands on makes for a better experience. The illusion tunnel was freaky to say the least!

Amazing, interesting, and strange. Fun place for all the family.

Fantastic place to go, lots to see and do, book well in advance to avoid disappointment.

This place is awesome, it will really give you a blast for your money and teach you a thing or two about illusions and tricks with mirrors & lights you would never have imagined!

Best advise, as given by the staff is to start on the top and work yourself down, truly an experience for the adventurous soul.

Lies right next to the entrance to Edinburgh Castle and has lookouts on top so you can look out on the city from above, not too high but you'll be able to see things from here

Great illusions and it was really fun.
Great for kids but also for parents.

Fantastic experience. So much to see and partake in. Thoroughly enjoyable We arrive in the morning about 11amand it wasn t too busy. There are many floors with different experiences. The tunnel is a must do but may leave you feeling very dizzy

Defiantly worth visiting! Experience unusual and fun illusions, lots to do for kids. So great 2-3 hours of fun for everyone of all ages, the whole thing ends on the sixth floor (the roof) with some breathtaking views of Edinburgh

Very good place to visit. If youre only in the city for a couple of days make sure this is on your list! Lots to do with something different around every corner.

Crowded, claustrophobic, and the place smells of moldy carpets. Exhibition were plain and boring, espically for the price. Waste of time

An intriguing hands on museum. Top tip is to use the hand sanitizers spotted around as all the displays are hands on so lots of germs Fun activity for a wet day in Edinburgh.

Cool place, definitely a lot of fun for children, some of the attractions (the camera obscura itself for example) are also interesting for adults, especially if you don't have much experience with optical illusions

Wow is all I can say.... I didn't know what to think when my partner suggested going here to kill some time on the last day of our holiday.

What I found was a building full of wonderment and things which completely boggle your mind! The actual camera obscura was amazing, I can't believe that you could get that quality of image and zoom from something so old. There are also stunning views around Edinburgh from the tower.

In my opinion the entrance price is good value for money and when we visited it was fairly quiet. All the staff were polite and informative, a definate must visit in Edinburgh.

Good,but was here 10 years ago and not a lot has changed, nothing new really.

Loved it. If you are in Edinburgh and it rains , go to the place. IT is great and funny. Nice people.

Nice view from top and good collection of stuff. Bit priced though

Amazing. I must do family day soooo much fun for all the family

Weird and wonderful and worth the money. And understand its hard with covid we done track and trace there was hand sanitizer but groups needed to have longer appointments as we were waiting for the first group then the group after us were waiting for us. So social distance was very hard.

Must visit place for kids and adults alike. Can have best fun for at least couple of hours. Some items are unique for this place.

Great indoor attraction, fun for all ages and welcoming friendly staff

BRILLIANT Great place to visit for all ages. Lots to see and do for a couple of hours and very interesting. If we ever in Edingburgh again would visit again.

Amazing place with lots of amazing tricks . The roof top show.is mind blowing!

Lovely place,nu can also catch a glimpse of Edinburgh from the top roof

Love this place. We all had a blast and they super friendly.
They also are dog friendly!!!!
It's the best attraction in Edinburgh

Great fun. Knowledgeable, enthusiastic staff. Must do attraction in Edinburgh

Do love it just wish the price for entry was a tad cheaper so we could go more often

More than you imagine from the outside! Took a good couple of hours to make our way through the five floors of fun. The actual camera obscura at the top of the building is very interesting for both adults and kids. The staff are very friendly.

Juvenile attraction, least interesting of all was the camera obscure. Avoid if you are older than 12.

Great place for kids of all ages. You can easily spend a couple hours there.

Must watch place in Edinburgh. Will get complete view around edinburgh. Kids are enjoying here and it will take completely around 2 hours to finish floor by floor.

I would recommend for friends and family. good value for money.

Kids seemed to enjoy it but 'we' the parents thought it was seriously over priced!
It did have some good gadgets and quirky holograms but certainly not worth the price.

Great place well worth the visit, great tour up on the roof too.

Optical Illusions at their best, totally thrilled by the experience.

Fascinating place to visit and loads of fun for kids and adults

We took friends to see it, we hadn't been there for years.
Extremely disappointed. Very poor presentation. Not professional at all.
Expensive.

Fantastic experience. I took my 3 kids ranging from 3 to 10 years old and all had a lot of fun. Will certainly be returning.

A brilliant way of looking at things from a different perspective. Very hands on with a great view of Edinburgh at the top. Better still, your ticket is valid all day so you can keep popping back. Kids will love it!!

Very busy during the day but ticket was valid for the day so came back for a second round in the evening. Kids loved it!

We had a great time here! Six floors of optical illusions and hands-on displays. We went on a very wet Saturday so it was super busy but still felt like there was space to move around and see the exhibits. Lots of fun stuff like the mirror maze and thermal imaging cameras, and the 'show' on the top floor is not to be missed!

Amazing show by Christine. And, many of the illusions left my son speechless. He loved it so much that he gave me a kiss for bringing him there.

Really fun place, kids loved it. Lots to do on every floor.

Save your money, get wasted on the whiskey place across the street. Or enter the castle for the same price. This place is nice if you're 5 years old, otherwise it doesn't offer much more then your typical shared Facebook optical illusion.

Great place to visit with kids, plenty for adults to enjoy too.

Just by the Edinbrough Castle. Fun and educational experience for all ages. Many interactive exhibits.

Fascinating collection of optical illusions, don't miss the vortex tunnel!

Many visual illusions. Mirror maze, infinity mirrors, swirling vortex , holographics, etc. Slightly pricey entry.

Interesting and funny with a nice view of the city from the rooftop.

Allow a couple of hours to see everything, great fun.

Enjoyed the trip more than our two year old. Interesting place.

Worth to pass by for a nice view of the city and the historic camera obscura on the top floor.

This place is not just for kids. We had a great time. All of their exhibits are interactive and fun. The roof top had an amazing view of the city.

Great for kids of all ages. 5 floors of interesting and amusing exhibits.

When Edinburgh s points of interest are done you have to visit this place. Fun place.

Definitely worth the money . Great your guide in the cinema area and beautiful views from the top definitely recommend!

Great!!! All of the family members really enjoyed this visit! We had "the best guide ever" showing the Camera Obscura in the tower, she was entertaining and also told some historic facts about the camera and the city of Edinburgh. We were also impressed by the large exhibition on several floors in the building.
Highly recommended!!!

I took my French students (aged 12-13) and it was so much fun!! We recommend it!

Way more fun on the way up to the camera than I expected.

Some interesting exhibits & worth a visit. However parking is nowhere near. I followed the sat nav not realising it's next to the castle. Attendant told us we couldn't park unless we were castle staff. Nearest was 15 mins walk. Nearly ran over the majority of Japanese & American tourists going down the street as they refuse to move out of the way the large metal thing on wheels bearing down on them

Mind blowing! Any vacation in Edinburgh should not end without a visit to Camera Obscura!

been here twice before and still love it! such a fun and interesting place to visit. there are so many fun exhibitions on each level and the views from the roof terrace are wonderful. lovely place to go as a family for a fun morning or afternoon

For families it's the place to be, especially if you have children. It can inspire them to explore the wee scientist in them. For the more grownup audience, can get boring pretty quickly. Definately one of the places Edinburgh is famous for, just don't expect too much... It's all an illusion after all...

It is a really nice experience and you can do a lot great stuff on your own and not just look at it.

Brilliant. Great family activity. Put it on your must see when visiting the capital with kids.

Lots of things to do, my kids are still talking about it 2 weeks after visiting

Lovely place to visit, my son (almost 1 Y/O) loved it. Lots of hand sanitizing stations which was brilliant as its very interactive

Fantastic....amazing.....so much to do..loads of interaction brilliant

where do I start!? I went here on a school residential years ago from now and this was defiantly the highlight of my journey in Edinburgh. My favourite parts were a spinning tunnel that you walked through in a raised platform and I didn t want to get out sadly I didn t have enough souvenir money with me to buy it but it would ve been a nice addition to my house all I remember is almost falling over because of the tricks my mind played on me honestly if you ever go to Edinburgh you HAVE to go here!

Marvelous few hours spent in this mind boggling place. Just go and enjoy the experience as I did.

Brilliant attraction very mind bending and extremely entertaining,Also the staff were very friendly and accommodating of us and our young children

Really great couple of hours spent here. Didnt realise you can come and go all day too. Reasonably priced and staff were very chatty and helpful.

A little on the expensive side but it was fun. A lot of different illusions but not sure if it's worth the price of the entrance fee...

We went to the teeny tiny toddler festival it was brilliant. The kid loved it and the people who work there were great and very friendly. We will definitely come back next year.

Didn't expect it to be fun for a party with no kids. Interesting and a great way to spend a couple of hours.

One ticket per day! Go out for lunch & come back again.
Your family wants to go home? Fine, get them there and come back.

Terribly fun place to go to with friends! You can spend hours in the attractions, exploring what each can do! Very amusing and entertaining.

No offence to other attractions but this one is one of the best in town, not just for the fitness session going up the stairs but for all the weird mirrors, vortexes and so on. Parking is found online on their site or using what3word app at "mixer.text.woven". Word of advice, try going trough the vortex a second time with your eyes closed and holding the handrails to see the difference.