With the different festivals all running to subtly different schedules, and a few major one-day events punctuating the programme as well, the best time to come to Edinburgh depends largely on what you want to see. There's more to it than that, though - the right choice also depends on your budget and, to an extent, on how much Festival madness you're ready to take on.

If you like your jazz, you need to get here early - the Jazz and Blues Festival runs from Friday 22nd to Sunday 31st July. Stay on a little longer, and you can take in the start of the Fringe as well.

Bibliophiles will have to wait a little longer; the book festival starts on the 13h August and wraps up, together with the Fringe, on the 29th.

If you're a patron of the high arts, the International Festival from 12th August to 4th September might be more your cup of tea. The city will be a lot quieter after the Fringe ends on the 29th August, and if you stay right though to the 4th you'll get to see the spectacular end-of-festival fireworks.

If you're on a budget, get here from Wednesday 3rd August and take advantage of cut-price Fringe previews. Stay until Monday 8th when the introductory 2-for-1 deals generally run out.

If you love to plan ahead, hold off for a while and get here around Saturday 20th. You'll have time to check this year's reviews for free online, from the comfort of home, and you can even book your tickets on the Internet in advance - so while you're here you can concentrate on enjoying the show.

Finally, for the most intense Festival experience, come slap-bang in the middle. All the major festivals except Jazz & Blues overlap from 13th to 27th August.  But the sweetest spot's probably "Week Two" - 13th to 20th - when the buzz has started to pick up around the very best shows, and the city's not yet slumped into the inevitable Festival fatigue.