Edinburgh

For most of the year Edinburgh is laid-back, low-key and calm, but come the summer season (which kicks off in July with the Jazz and Blues Festival) the city’s alter ego emerges. It’s as if the capital comes off its medication and goes a little wild as festival frenzy takes hold. This can be a positive or negative depending on your perspective.

Hotel prices soar, restaurants are fully booked and the crowds are crushing, but the flip side is the city sizzles. The Hogmanay celebrations over New Year are also classed as peak season.

The airport is eight miles west of the city centre. The airport bus into town is very straightforward, quick and cheap, departing from outside the terminal building and dropping you around half an hour later at Haymarket station or in the centre of town near Waverley, the main train station. There are also plenty of taxis, taking around 25 minutes to the city centre.

One of the beauties of Edinburgh is that it’s easy to get around on foot – as long as you’re relatively fit. It’s not flat and those cobbles can cause problems, but it’s compact and exploring the alleys and backstreets gives you a real sense of history. There’s also a good bus network and taxis are plentiful if you’d rather hitch a ride, but the never-ending tram-works mean driving can be stressful.

Old Town, New Town or wild card Leith? First-time visitors who want to be in the thick of things should opt for the medieval Old Town or Georgian New Town.

The Old Town is more touristy, chaotic and crowded but has a real buzz. The elegant, leafy New Town is quieter and has more of a local feel.

However, nowhere is exactly far away. Leith is worth throwing into the mix, with its batch of boutique hotels, gastropubs and Michelin-starred eateries on the sleek waterfront – and just a short taxi ride from town.

The gentrified docklands down in Leith are a real foodie enclave with no fewer than four Michelin-starred restaurants, along with gastropubs, seafood restaurants and bars lining the shore.

The chic neighbourhood ‘villages’ of Stockbridge and Bruntsfield, meanwhile, have plenty of cute eateries and bars away from the crowds.

For raucous nightlife, head to the bars along George Street and the Royal Mile.

You’ll find all the high-street staples along Princes Street, higher-end boutiques on George Street and designer labels off St Andrew Square.

The Royal Mile has plenty of tartan tat, but you can also browse specialist whisky shops, Scottish cashmere emporiums and kilt-makers here, while nearby Grassmarket has vintage chic and homespun Scottish labels.

Head to Southside’s Bruntsfield village and William Street in the West End to mooch around independent boutiques.