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The ornate and - let's be honest - spectacularly ugly Scott Monument is the number one landmark on Princes Street; and, from his plinth amidst the towering stone, the eponymous poet looks out on a truly iconic skyline. Beside the Scottish National Galleries Complex, the road known simply as The Mound curves up to the Royal Mile - there to meet the Castle on its rock, the domed Bank of Scotland, and the double towers of the Assembly Hall.

Marking the southern boundary of the New Town, east-west Princes Street gets all but impassable at Festival time. The trick's to duck into Princes Street Gardens: running more-or-less continuously along the southern side of the road, the city-centre park makes both a useful rat-run and a calming spot for a summer picnic. In the western gardens, the Ross Bandstand is the epicentre of the International Festival's end-of-festivities firework display, and hosts an occasional programme of other outdoor events throughout the Festival period.

At the east end of the road, Princes Street meets North Bridge below the clock-tower of the Balmoral Hotel. Steps here lead down to Waverley Station, while the crowded plaza nearby is home to two Fringe box offices: the self-service E-Ticket Tent, and the Half Price Hut.

The western end's the church quarter: St John's, mother church of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, sits on the junction with Lothian Road, while lovely St Cuthbert's peeks up from the valley below. A little further along on Shandwick Place, the tall tower of St George's West rounds off proceedings with the new World @ St George's West venue.