The club scene is lively, with some excellent venues hosting a changing selection of one-nighters. In the bigger venues, you may find different clubs taking place on each floor. Most of the city-centre clubs stay open until around 3am. You can normally hear live jazz, folk and rock every evening in one or other of the city's pubs. The city has permanent venues large enough to host large touring orchestras and ballet companies; elsewhere you can also uncover a lively comedy club and a couple of excellent art-house cinemas .

Edinburgh has a dynamic gay culture, for years centred round the top of Leith Walk and Broughton Street, where the first gay and lesbian centre appeared in the 1970s. Since the start of the 1990s, more and more gay enterprises, especially cafA©s and nightclubs, have moved into this area, now dubbed the "Pink Triangle".

The best way to find out what's on is to pick up a copy of The List , a fortnightly listings magazine covering both Edinburgh and Glasgow (A?1.95). Alternatively, get hold of the Edinburgh Evening News , which appears daily except Sunday: its listings column gives details of performances in the city that day, hotels and bars included.