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A product of Edinburgh's uniquely three-dimensional city plan, the deep canyon of the Cowgate slashes west to east across the heart of the city's Old Town. With both sides of the valley built up to reach the streets above, you could skip over the top almost without realizing it's there: it's only when you stop to look down from lofty George IV Bridge that you realize just how far you are above the true ground floor.

The city's lower levels are a popular hang-out for the stag party crowd, and the Cowgate can be unpleasantly rowdy on a weekend night. But gone are the days when Robert Louis Stevenson, looking down into the valley, said he could "view one rank of society from another in the twinkling of an eye". In today's Cowgate, four-star hotels rub shoulders with student hostels - while at the valley's western end, the claustrophobic buildings open out to the airy modern plaza known as Grassmarket.

At Festival time, the Cowgate's dominated by mega-venue the Underbelly, which extends four storeys up from the valley floor to connect with the upper levels on Victoria Street. Further east, the Baby Belly offers an atmospheric trip inside the city's hidden underworld - while, at the other end, the Grassmarket's small cluster of high-quality venues includes Scotland's national Dance Base and the jazz-loving Lot.