Edinburgh is unique among Scotland's cities. Tourism, its proximity to England, and its multicultural population set it apart. There's up-to-the-nanosecond dance clubs in 15th-century buildings and firebreathers outside Georgian mansions: this is a place that knows how to blend ancient and modern.

Edinburgh's superb architecture ranges from ancient churches to monumental Victorian masterpieces - all dominated by a castle on a precipitous crag in the city's heart. Pick any street to stroll - you'll be wowed by sudden vistas of looming battlements, cold volcanic peaks and hills steeped in memory.