Just visiting: Edinburgh

Friday, 3pm: Check into your West End hotel The Hoxton’s first Scottish hotel opened last month in a series of Georgian-style townhouses near Haymarket station.

3.30pm: Visit two of the National Galleries of Scotland's buildings, Modern One and Two, a stone’s throw away from the West End. Drop into ‘Artist Rooms’ in Modern One to see Louise Bourgeois’s menacing spindly spider.

5.30pm: Wet your whistle Stockbridge (or ‘Stocky B’), is the village-like neighbourhood where the New Town’s grandiose Georgian architecture blends with cobblestoned streets. Duck into the Bailie Bar (thebailiebar.com), a traditional basement pub with red ceilings and proper old pub carpets that dates back to the 1870s. If a dive-bar vibe is not for you, head to Sotto for a selection of Italian wines and lemon-themed non-alcoholic cocktails.

6.30pm: Dinner time Skua is an intimate basement restaurant in Stockbridge, helmed by chef Tomás Gormley. Order everything on the menu, scrawled daily in chalk across the black walls: sourdough and cultured butter, beef tartare, oysters, daily fish.

9pm: Bar hop in the Old Town The Fringe takes over the Old Town. Start at Paradise Palms, a quirky, queer-friendly joint beside Bristo Square. Or cross the road to Sandy Bell’s for real ales and live folk (sandybells.com). For nightlife, walk to the Cowgate, the Old Town’s lower level. Go to OX184 for craft beer and industrial vibes (ox184.co.uk), then to Underbelly Cowgate for late-night Fringe shows (underbellyedinburgh.co.uk).

1am: Have a dance at… Sneaky Pete’s (sneakypetes.co.uk), the beating heart of the city’s grassroots music scene.

Saturday morning: Breakfast at Margot, a neighbourhood café-slash-wine bar next to Bruntsfield Links (margotedinburgh.co.uk).

11am: Go for a wander… In picturesque Dean Village and along the Water of Leith river path for an hour or so to the restaurants and bars at Leith’s Shore waterfront.

1.30pm: Fuel up… At Alby’s, a posh sandwich shop on Commercial Street serving focaccia monsters. Take it away and explore Out of the Blue Drill Hall, home to B’s Vintage and the Edinburgh Flea.

4pm: Raise a dram Take a whisky tour at the Port of Leith Distillery, Edinburgh’s first vertical distillery, on Whisky Quay. It’s unpretentious, good value and has the added attraction of a 360-degree view over the city.

7pm: Dine out… At Roberta Hall-McCarron’s Eleanore (eleanore.uk) at the top of Leith Walk: Scandi-style interiors, modern drinks and an excellent value £75 tasting menu.

Sunday, 8am: A one-hour hike up Arthur’s Seat (the ancient extinct volcano centred in Holyrood Park) is a rite of passage. Doing it virtually alone first thing in the morning is a particularly cinematic experience.

10am: Buns for breakfast Reward yourself with silken croissants at famed Lannan Bakery (lannanbakery.com) in Stockbridge, or try their fabled chipotle sausage rolls.

12pm: Final fix For history, join a tour of Mary King’s Close, a 17th-century (and allegedly haunted) underground street. For food, book on an Edinburgh Food Safari at midday, which includes the Stockbridge farmers’ market.

Photograph by Getty Images