Buying tickets from the Fringe

As the hub of activity for the 2,000 shows in Edinburgh's largest Festival, the Fringe's central box offices are the first port of call for many arrivals in Edinburgh.

In person

The main box office is conveniently located on the Royal Mile, close to the major venues and the tourist heart of Edinburgh. You can buy all your tickets here in one go; you can pay by cash or card, and there's no booking fee. What's more, the staff are friendly and helpful, and more than willing to share their local knowledge with visitors.

There's a downside of course, and it's a predictable one: the queue at the Fringe box office is legendary. First and foremost, it's outdoors - down an alley at the side of the building - so dress appropriately. Next, be prepared to be descended on by a swarm of off-duty performers, keen to sing, clown, distribute leaflets and generally persuade you to buy a ticket for their show. But most of all, at peak times, expect the queue to be very, very long.

The Fringe E-Tent

Online or by phone

For advance booking, especially if you live outside Edinburgh, the Fringe box office runs a phone service (0131 226 0000). It's friendly and tolerably efficient, but like the box office itself it gets overwhelmed during the busiest periods - if you're booking at the last moment you might prefer just to phone the venue (see the next page).

For the technically literate, the Fringe website is a more appealing option. The only online store which sells tickets for all shows at the Fringe, the website also carries a searchable programme and even links to reviews. When it works, it works very well, but be warned that it doesn't work all the time: reliability's been improving, but it suffered a particularly ignominious collapse in 2008.

Now for the bad news: there's an eye-watering 80p booking fee per ticket, both online or by phone. However, there's a limit of £4 for a single order - so it's a little cheaper to book a lot of tickets in one go.