It is a bone-chilling night in “Auld Reeky” but, huddled together with a group of a dozen people in a courtyard adjoining the Jolly Judge pub, we are oblivious to the biting cold and drizzling rain.

Clutching pints of beer, glasses of wine and warmed with a wee drop of malt, we are listening avidly, while intermittently spluttering with laughter, to a series of amusing, informative and occasionally irreverent yarns concerning Edinburgh’s finest scribes.

Two well versed and witty actors quibble engagingly over the relative merits and inspirations of the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Robbie Burns, Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Muriel Spark.

The Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour turned out to be a rewarding way to spend a night in the heart of Scotland’s capital – a cunning combination of culture and pub crawling in the city with more alehouses per square mile than any other in Europe.

It was a memorable experience, if somewhat hazy by the end after tagging along with the knowledgable duo to a string of splendid howffs (that’s taverns to us) where Scott, Burns et al once made merry while observing the surroundings which fed their imaginations.

I’d been to Edinburgh a few times before but Auld Reeky – so named after the smog and smell which once engulfed its cramped Old Town – tends to draw you back.

No wonder readers of Lonely Planet guides voted it as one of the world’s 25 Best Cities.

A cheap flight from Bournemouth’s quaint airport - £17 return rising to £40 with admin and other costs – prompted our latest hour-long flight to Robert Louis Stevenson’s “precipitous city”.

One of the first things you notice on arrival by bus from the airport in New Town is the “gothic rocket” – the eye- popping 200ft Scott Monument completed in 1844 to a cost of £16,154, seven shillings and 11 pence.

Beyond that, gazing up from Princes Street, is the ever magnificent Edinburgh Castle, perched aloft an extinct volcano and adjoining a sloping ridge bustling with historic buildings, renowned worldwide as the Royal Mile.

The good news is that we’re staying up there. The bad is that we’ve got to lug our baggage up several of its steep flights of steps. Although I have to admit I didn’t actually do any of the lugging.

Convenienty situated half way up the Fleshmarket Steps is Edinburgh’s smallest pub, Halfway House, a snug real ale sanctuary where we were fortified with a steaming bowl of cullen skink (fish stew).

The Royal Mile is a treasure trove of historic buildings, where the well-to-do in their grand apartments once lived shoulder to shoulder with the ragged masses who endured appalling conditions in cramped tenements.

Today it has its fair share of souvenir shops – flags, kilts, tam o’shanters - but for me they are worth popping into just to hear a truly bizarre bagpipe version of Voodoo Chile.

The Secrets of the Royal Mile tour wends its way through the well trodden courtyards, wynds and steps on and abutting the famous thoroughfare, offering a fascinating insight into some of its lesser known aspects.

John Knox’s House, for example, maybe one of the Royal Mile’s oldest surviving tenement buildings. But for all his bible bashing, the controversial religious reformer’s body lies beneath a slab of tarmac – Bay 23 of the courthouse car park.

You don’t have to like the stuff to enjoy a visit to the Scotch Whisky Experience next to the castle – but it helps.

Visitors take a barrel ride through a replica distillery to experience the magical malt making process, before enjoying a welcome dram at the conclusion.

We left open-mouthed after marveling at the world’s greatest collection of Scotch whisky – nearly 3,500 bottles lovingly amassed by a Brazilian teetotal!

We stayed for a couple of nights at the recently opened Fraser Suites, and it could hardly be better situated, a stone’s throw from imposing St Giles Cathedral just off the Royal Mile.

St Giles Street was once Edinburgh’s Fleet Street and the Fraser Suites has been lovingly converted from the shell of once bustling newspaper office.

From the window of our cosy sixth floor suite we took in a classic view of Edinburgh - a sea of endless chimney pots in the forefront with Carlton Hill and its elegant memorials in the background. Through the haze of a bright February morning I could just make out the Firth of Forth glistening on the horizon.

The Fraser Suites’ unique claim to fame is that the owners commissioned dozens of paintings from artists studying at Edinburgh College; large, vibrant and abstract, these striking works adorn the corridors, rooms, bar and restaurant to striking effect.

It creates a singular, stylish atmosphere.

We spent another night at Edinburgh’s stunning du Vin hotel, a few minutes walk from the Royal Mile near the famous statue of Bobby, the Skye Terrier who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until emitting his final woof on January 14, 1872.

Like all du Vin establishments, it has been imaginatively converted from an interesting and sturdy old building - in this case a Victorian asylum.

Judging by the thickness of what were once the outer walls – around 2ft – it housed some pretty serious cases. The Bedlam function room recalls the structure’s colourful past.

If the crowded bar/bistro on the evening that we stayed there is anything to go by, local people are these days beating a path to get in rather than out of the du Vin.

Among the restaurant’s more off-beat dishes included beef and snail pie ((£17.95), and tandoori cod and cucumber salad (£16) The rooms at du Vins – with “monsoon showers” and stand alone bath tubs - are named after particular wines. Our roof-top suite was Veuve Clicquot and it certainly had a champagne feel to it.

A nice touch was the inviting Cigar Bothy in the courtyard, which offered a warming retreat for us nicotine junkies. Honestly, how on earth is a gal supposed to give up!

Explorer's warm abode
If it was good enough for Sir Ernest Shackleton then it was certainly good enough for us.

While secretary of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society from 1904 to 1910, the great Antarctic explorer resided in a smart town house at South Learmouth Gardens in Edinburgh’s genteel area of Stockbridge.

A century later Shackleton’s former home is one of a string of Edwardian houses that comprise Channings, a delightful, relaxing, escape-from-it-all hotel situated a leisurely 10-minute walk from the city centre.

The hotel, naturally enough, revels in its unique slice of history and features some absolutely stunning, beautifully enlarged black and white photographs of Shackleton’s expeditions.

Images from the ill-fated but ultimately heroic 1914-1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition are well to the fore, including some magnificent shots of his ship The Endurance slowly being crushed by pack ice, while the huskies look on unperturbed!

In fact there’s something rather comforting in sinking into a steaming bath while gazing at images from one of the coldest places on earth.

There are three spacious Shackleton suites and two Shackleton rooms, all situated on the top floor, while the hotel is keen to point out that all of its 41 rooms are different.

As well as Sir Ernest memorabilia - of which owner Peter Taylor continues to search for - Channings boasts innumerable Victorian prints, books and furniture that give it the air of an informal Victorian drawing room.

The lounges have crackling open fires, which were particularly welcome on the teeth chattering day that we stayed.

A few minutes walk away is the centre of well-heeled Stockbridge, a charming ‘urban village’ with an array of interesting, independent shops in which to browse.

Tel: 0131 315 2226 or (for reservations) 0131 274 7401;email reserve@channings.co.uk or web www.channings.co.uk

On the high seas in Edinburgh
The Queen could hardly disguise her disappointment when her floating home was decommissioned in 1997 after more than 40 years on the high seas.

The Royal yacht Britannia was the one place where she felt she could truly relax.

Now a major tourist attraction for visitors to Edinburgh, a trip around the Britannia offers a fascinating glimpse into a world of luxury and privilege.

The self-guided tour (with easy-to-use headsets) takes you around the entire five-deck craft, offering a glimpse into the swish state apartments - including the Queen’s bedroom.

The Britannia is the jewel in the crown, if you’ll excuse the pun, of the redevelopment of Leith Port, once a somewhat dodgy area which is now undergoing dramatic regeneration.

Entrance is via the vast and gleaming Ocean Terminal shopping complex and is a 15 minute bus ride from the city centre.

We stayed for a night at one of the most significant old buildings at Leith harbour, a former ‘sailor’s home’ built in 1833 which also served as a house of ill-repute during the area’s darker days.

However, the building - with its magnificent clock tower - has been lovingly brought back to life as a Malmaison hotel and bistro.

The prominently-sited structure was one of the first buildings in Edinburgh’s long stagnant docklands to be redeveloped, and set the tone for much which followed.

They’ve done a fantastic job at the Mal, creating an elegant, cosy and architecturally eye catching retreat from all of that exhausting shopping and sight seeing.

The building’s revival included the addition of a grand staircase along with striking works of abstract art and atmospheric prints by acclaimed Minety photographer Peter Lavery.

Around the Malmaison - which has a popular and trendy bar and brasserie - are cobble stone walkways where restaurants are lit up at night, reflecting colourfully in the rippling water.


The Malmaison Edinburgh, 1 Tower Place Leith Edinburgh EH6 7BZ, Tel: 0131 468 5000; Email Edinburgh@malmaison.com Website: www.malmaison-edinburgh.com/suites/port-of-leith