Edinburgh

Choosing where to base yourself in Edinburgh matters more than in most British cities, because the topography is steep and the character changes sharply within a few hundred metres. The good news is that the historic centre is small enough that no sensible choice leaves you stranded.

First-time visitors on a short break should generally pay the premium for the Old Town or the eastern New Town. Being able to walk back from the castle, a restaurant or a late show without thinking about buses is worth real money over two or three nights. The trade-off is noise: streets around the Grassmarket and Cowgate stay busy well past midnight, so ask for a room at the back.

Couples after something quieter usually do better in the New Town proper, around Charlotte Square, Heriot Row or the West End near Palmerston Place. These are handsome Georgian streets, residential in feel, with the shops of George Street and the galleries a short flat walk away. Stockbridge suits the same brief at slightly lower prices and with more of a neighbourhood atmosphere.

Families tend to be happiest south of the centre in Bruntsfield or Marchmont, close to the Meadows for running about, or out at Portobello for the beach. Walkers heading for the Pentlands should look at the southern suburbs, where you can be on the hills within twenty minutes. Anyone whose trip revolves around eating should simply stay in Leith.

Prices swing dramatically by season. A mid-range double that costs £110 in February will routinely pass £300 during the Fringe in August and over Hogmanay, and the better properties sell out for those dates six to twelve months ahead. May, June and September offer the best balance of weather and value. If you are visiting in August and have not booked by the previous autumn, plan on staying further out and using the tram or a park and ride. Parking is scarce and expensive in the centre, so if you are driving, check whether your hotel actually has spaces before you commit.

The obvious sights genuinely are worth the queues, but leave room for the smaller ones between them.

• Edinburgh Castle — Scotland's most visited paid attraction, holding the Honours of Scotland, the Stone of Destiny and St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest surviving building in the city and dating to the 12th century. The One O'Clock Gun still fires every day except Sunday.
• Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Park — a former volcano and the best free view in the city, reachable in about 45 minutes on foot from the Palace gates; the gentler Salisbury Crags path is an easier alternative in wind.
• The Real Mary King's Close — guided tours through 17th-century streets buried beneath the City Chambers, consistently among the highest-rated attractions in Britain and a genuinely good introduction to how the crowded Old Town actually worked.
• The Palace of Holyroodhouse — the monarch's official Scottish residence at the foot of the Royal Mile, with Mary, Queen of Scots' apartments and the ruined 12th-century abbey in the grounds.
• The National Museum of Scotland — free to enter, spanning Pictish carvings to Dolly the sheep, with a roof terrace that most visitors never find.
• The Scottish National Gallery and Portrait Gallery — two free collections a few minutes apart, one on the Mound and one in a red sandstone Gothic pile on Queen Street.
• The Water of Leith Walkway — a riverside path running roughly 12 miles from Balerno to Leith, passing Dean Village and the modern art galleries, and the quickest way to lose the crowds.
• Portobello Beach — two miles of sand and a Victorian promenade about 20 minutes by bus from the centre, with swimming saunas, an old-fashioned amusement arcade and decent chips.

Scottish cooking here has moved well beyond the tourist version, though the classics are still done properly. Haggis with neeps and tatties turns up everywhere from Royal Mile pubs to tasting menus; cullen skink, the smoked haddock and potato soup from the Moray coast, is a reliable lunch; and cranachan — cream, honey, whisky, raspberries and toasted oatmeal — is the dessert to order in raspberry season.

Leith holds most of the serious restaurants. The Kitchin, on the Shore, built its reputation on seasonal Scottish produce and holds a Michelin star, and the surrounding streets have a dense cluster of small independents. In town, The Doric on Market Street and Whiski Bar on the High Street both do dependable traditional plates near the station. Bread Street and the Old Town have good casual options if you are eating before a show.

For markets, Stockbridge Market runs on Sundays beside the Water of Leith with street food, baking and cheese, while Leith Market on Saturdays leans international and lively. Whisky is unavoidable and the choice is enormous — most decent bars will keep a shelf worth exploring — but Edinburgh also has a strong gin scene, and Innis and Gunn, Pilot and Newbarns are among the local breweries to look for on taps around the city.

Camping around Edinburgh is a slightly unusual proposition, because you are pitching in the countryside but visiting a capital city. The sites that work best sit on the fringes — Midlothian to the south, East Lothian to the east, West Lothian towards the airport — with regular buses or a short drive into town. That layout suits the terrain well: the ground on the city's outskirts is mostly gentle farmland and parkland rather than the rough, boggy pitches you meet further into the Highlands, so grass pitches drain reasonably and hardstandings are widely available for tourers.

Weather is the main thing to plan around. Edinburgh sits on the drier east coast and gets noticeably less rain than Glasgow, but it is exposed to easterly winds off the North Sea, and the haar — a cold sea fog — can roll in and sit for a day even in June. Nights are chilly well into summer, so bring a warmer sleeping bag than the calendar suggests and pegs that will hold in wind. A groundsheet and dry bags are sensible year-round.

Scotland's access legislation permits responsible wild camping on most unenclosed land, which is a genuine freedom, but it is not intended for city edges. Within Edinburgh itself there is nowhere appropriate — Holyrood Park and the Pentlands Regional Park both prohibit it — so treat wild camping as something for a wider Scottish trip rather than a city break.

The practical season runs from April to early October, with May, June and September the pick for daylight and settled conditions. August is a different matter: Fringe demand pushes campsite bookings to capacity and prices up, and you should reserve months ahead. Glamping has expanded considerably around the city, and heated pods or wigwams make a sensible compromise if you want the countryside without gambling on a wet week. Bring midge repellent if you are heading anywhere wooded, though the coastal sites are usually breezy enough to keep them down.