Cargilfield

1628. (preparatory, co-ed) is fashionable with the New Town finance set and parents pay over the odds to live in the catchments of esteemed primary schools

South Morningside Primary Sciennes St Mary’s

and and

Butcher, baker, coffee maker

I. J. Mellis Crombies

With

on the south side in the New Town. for cheese, for award-winning sausages—and for fish, plus Scotland’s oldest deli, one needn’t darken the doors of a supermarket.

There are proper pubs—greyfriars Bobby, The Bailie, The Blind Poet—and revered restaurants such as The Witchery by the Castle, The Honours in New Town and the trendy Gardener’s Cottage. There’s a growing gastropub scene led by

in Stockbridge.

Scran & Scallie Out and about

As well as hosting the world’s largest arts festival each August, Edinburgh has a science festival in April, a film festival in June, a jazz and blues festival in July and a shortfilm festival (October 26 to November 6). The Royal Botanic Garden has open-air cinema nights in September (www.thelunacinema. com) and Edinburgh Doors Open Days (today and tomorrow) give a chance to visit buildings that are usually closed to the public. There’s also an art and streetfood market in Stockbridge every Sunday and rugby at Murrayfield throughout the autumn.

Hyde Park homesick

For manicured perfection, there’s the Royal Botanic Garden and Princes Street Gardens. To feel the wind in your hair, climb up Arthur’s Seat or Calton Hill —both have extensive views across the Firth of Forth. The Meadows, near the university, makes a picturesque picnic spot.

Need to know

Now the tram network is up and running and the airport has undergone a £50 million expansion, the focus is on large-scale property developments. Haymarket and Waverley stations are being redesigned to include offices, hotels, bars and restaurants and a new canalside residential community is coming together at India Quay (www.india-quay.co.uk).

The overhaul of the dated St James shopping centre in the city centre (www.edinburghstjames. com) into a luxury mall, five-star hotel accommodation and 250 apartments is one of the largest regeneration projects under way in Britain.