It may be 170 years old, but Edinburgh’s bewitching Camera Obscura & World of Illusions continues to baffle and delight visitors to this day – and that includes cynical teenagers. Enter from Castlehill, near the top of the Royal Mile, and climb up to the Outlook Tower for a taste of true Victorian ingenuity. Here, live images from the streets below are projected onto a canvas table.
Think CCTV, 19th-century style. The rest of the building is given over to the World of Illusions, a collection of hands-on exhibits showcasing a variety of optical illusions, light puzzles, mirror mazes, 3D holograms and vortex tunnels; enough to keep the kids entertained for an hour or two, but not quite matching the magic of the camera obscura above.
