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If anywhere has the right to bill itself as the centre of the Festival, it's surely Bristo Square. Heartland of Edinburgh University for the rest of the year, during August it hosts no fewer than three of the Fringe's largest venues; all told, there are a whacking 15 performance spaces within a stone's throw of its sunken plaza.

Most eye-catching of them all is the startling Udderbelly, a tent in the shape of a giant purple cow. Once you've got past the shock, walk round the perimeter of its al-fresco bar to pass the mega-venue Pleasance Dome, on your way the turreted mansion which hosts the Gilded Balloon. The rotund McEwan Hall, the University's graduation hall, sadly isn't open for the Festival; but hidden behind is the Reid Concert Hall, which lines up as part of the Udderbelly.

Heading past the side of the Gilded Balloon, a couple of minutes' walk brings you to nearby George Square. Tragically ruined by Sixties modernism, this one-time Georgian paradise still hangs on to its beautiful central garden, home of the unmissable antique Spiegeltent. Further across the square, new venue Musical Theatre @ George Square brings Festival-time razzmatazz to the University's largest lecture hall.