August is when everyone comes and it is the worst month to see the place. For roughly four weeks the population swells, every spare room becomes accommodation at a price to match, the Royal Mile turns into a corridor of flyers and queues, and the city you actually came for disappears behind its own festival. If the shows are the point, that is a fair trade. If the point is a medieval capital on a volcanic ridge with a castle at one end and a Georgian grid beside it, come in October instead, when the light is low and gold, the beds are affordable again, the sights are open and the streets belong to the people who live there.
Two pieces of admin now shape the budget in ways older guides do not mention. The city has introduced a levy on overnight accommodation, charged as a percentage of the room rate before tax, applied across the whole council area, capped at the first five consecutive nights and identical all year round, with Glasgow and Aberdeen preparing their own versions. And every visitor without a British or Irish passport now needs an electronic travel authorisation before boarding, which covers Americans, Canadians, Australians and all European Union citizens, is linked to the passport rather than printed, and should be applied for at least three working days ahead because carriers refuse boarding without it. Compare flight and hotel prices for Edinburgh with the levy in mind, since the rate you see quoted is no longer the rate you pay.
Where you sleep sets the tone of the visit. The Old Town has historic hotels and small guesthouses in the closes off the Royal Mile, atmospheric, steep and noisiest during the festival. The New Town has elegant townhouse hotels and serviced apartments in the streets above Princes Street Gardens, quieter, flatter and better for restaurants. Stockbridge has boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts along its village high street near Dean Village, ten minutes from the centre on foot and the most pleasant place to wake up. And Leith has modern hotels and apartments along the Shore, cheaper, sharper on food, and a short tram ride from everything else.
The practicalities are refreshingly simple for a capital. A tram runs from the airport into the centre and on to the port, which makes an arrival transfer optional rather than necessary unless you land late or carry a lot. The centre itself is walkable and the hills are the only real obstacle. Edinburgh Castle sells timed entry that goes in summer and around the winter holidays, so book it before you fly and take an early slot, and the same applies to the underground vaults and the royal apartments. Day trips are what the coach and car hire operators exist for here, with the Highlands, the lochs, the border abbeys and the golf coast all within a long day, and a guided coach usually beating a hire car unless you plan to stay out overnight. Check tour and transfer prices for Scotland travel alongside the room, because the popular Highland runs fill in the same weeks the city does.
The weather is the argument against every month and never a decisive one. Summer is mild rather than warm and rarely dry for a whole day; winter is dark by mid afternoon but lit up for the festive market and the new year celebration, which fills the city a second time; spring is unpredictable and quiet. October gives the best compromise of light, colour and availability, and the wind off the firth will find you whenever you come, so bring a layer more than the forecast suggests. Personally, I would take a week in October, book the castle for the first slot of a weekday morning, walk out to the coast at Cramond on the clear afternoon that always arrives, and leave the festival to the people who are here for the shows.
Q: How does the visitor levy work?
A: It is a percentage added to the cost of paid overnight accommodation anywhere in the council area, charged on the first five consecutive nights of a stay and applied at the same rate all year. Day visitors are not affected, and the amount should appear in the price you are quoted.
Q: Do you need an electronic travel authorisation for Scotland?
A: Yes, if you hold a passport other than British or Irish and do not already have a visa. It is applied for online or in the official app, is linked to the passport rather than printed, and airlines will not board you without one.
Q: Is August worth it anyway?
A: Only if the performances are the reason for the trip. Book accommodation many months ahead, expect the highest rates of the year, and accept that queues and crowds come with the programme.
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