A cultural experience

Edinburgh is Europe's festival capital, as well as the world-famous Edinburgh Festival - a catch-all term to describe the meeting point of the International Festival, the Fringe, the Film Festival, the Book Festival, the Jazz Festival, Art Festival and Military Tattoo that invade the city in August - there is also a newly established Fashion Festival in May, a Science Festival in April, a Children's Festival at the start of summer, the intercultural Mela in September and in the winter there is four weeks of Edinburgh's Christmas that culminates in the world famous Hogmanay celebrations.

That's an awful lot of art and culture for a little city and it makes Edinburgh the first choice for a cultural city-break forart lovers and entertainment seekers.

There are some stunning art galleries in the city and you could spend an entire weekend just exploring their offerings. The National Galleries of Scotland are a must-see for art lovers. The National Gallery houses an outstanding permanent collection of art from the Renaissance to Post-impressionism, including works by Titian, Rembrandt and Monet as well as the world's finest collection of Scottish painting. The Neoclassical Royal Scottish Academy next door is principally used for major touring exhibitions. A free shuttle bus will take you from here to the Gallery of Modern Art and nearby Dean Gallery where you will find a store of Surrealist art, together with pieces by Matisse, Picasso, Magritte, Hockney and Bacon. For another contemporary art fix, try the Fruitmarket Gallery at the back of Waverley Station. This used to be a Victorian fruit and vegetable market and is now one of the leading exhibition spaces for contemporary art in Edinburgh, you will find emerging and established Scottish artists placed in an international context. They also offer talks and workshops, screenings of short films, and have a busy café, which is a great place to hang out with an eclectic arty crowd.

Theatre is taken very seriously in Edinburgh all year round. Of course, if you come during August, you will be able to take your pick from several thousand shows that make up the International Festival and the Fringe, but no matter what time of year you come, you will find every theatrical taste catered for. The Festival Theatre is a huge glass-fronted building in the Old Town and has a 1,900-seater theatre that offers an inspiring programme of big-budget dance and drama throughout the year, despite its name. The Playhouse also offers space for big productions in its multi-purpose theatre that seats more than 3,000. This is the place for big music names such as Jools Holland and Nick Cave, touring West-End musicals and opera. For mainstream drama, the beautiful Victorian Royal Lyceum theatre is the venue, they have a resident company here that produces top-quality classic revivals and the theatre also receives acclaimed touring productions. The Traverse is the new writing theatre and has built a reputation that sees theatregoers from around Scotland flocking to see their cutting-edge work. Here you will find new plays by some of Scotland's finest writers including Henry Adam, David Grieg and Rona Munro.

Late-night entertainment is also extremely well catered for. The Jam House is the newly opened sister venue to the hugely popular Jools Holland Jazz Club in Birmingham. It is housed in the old BBC Broadcasting House on Queen Street and features a VIP area in a converted chapel at the top of the building with high, beamed ceilings. The venue is open seven days a week until 3am and hosts a range of jazz, blues and rock artists and has featured performances from Chaka Khan, The Stylistics, The Specials and of course, Jools and his Rhythm 'n' Blues orchestra. The Stand comedy club is where the world's top comedians perform during the festival, and the rest of the year it hosts a nightly array of new and established comedy talent.

Glasgow also has plenty to satisfy the culture vulture. The city is home to numerous cultural organisations such as Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra so evening entertainment is never in short supply in the theatres and venues throughout the city. The Centre for Contemporary Arts is a flagship arts venue where you will find exhibitions, contemporary music, film, performances and occasionally spoken-word events, site-specific theatre and dance. In the West End the Oran Mor is the centre of artistic activity, it recently introduced A Play, A Pie and A Pint, which is proving hugely popular for the lunchtime crowd and is attracting well-known performers such as Robbie Coltrane and Liz Lochhead. The Tron Theatre is renowned for developing Scottish theatrical talent through its resident company. Michael Boyd was artistic director here for ten years before he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and the theatre has premiered the work of David Grieg and Anthony Neilson.

Art lovers will find Glasgow a veritable playground with some world-class museums and galleries offering free admission so you can pop in and out of them without worrying about seeing everything at once. The magnificent Kelvingrove has just opened its doors again after a multi-million pound refurbishment and contains many outstanding European artworks, including Old Masters, French Impressionists and Scottish Colourists. One of the highlights is Dali's Christ of Saint John on the Cross. The Burrell Collection is a great treasure trove of art miscellanea housed in a peaceful woodland setting. There are more than 9,000 pieces collected by Sir William Burrell and bequeathed to Glasgow in 1944, it is the largest collection ever assembled by one person, and includes medieval art, Islamic art, artefacts from around the world, furniture and stained glass and some works by Degas and Cezanne. The Gallery of Modern Art is the place for more contemporary exhibits and a chance to see the work of local artists. The city is itself forms a gallery of the splendid architecture of the Art Nouveau pioneer Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his predecessor Alexander "Greek" Thomson, check out the Glasgow School of Art, the Mackintosh Church and the Willow Tearooms, and Thomson's Egyptian Halls, Grecian Chambers and St Vincent Street Free Church. You will find more about these architects and other Scottish designers at the Lighthouse, the landmark design centre accommodated in the old Glasgow Herald newspaper building designed by Mackintosh.

Whichever of Scotland's big cities you chose, you will come away with your head filled with new ideas and your heart won over by Scottish talent.

For more information, please visit the Edinburgh and Glasgow areas of the website.