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Dragonfly
A super-stylish lounge bar with a Raffles of Singapore vibe - all crystal chandeliers, polished wood and oriental art - Dragonfly has won rave reviews for its innovative cocktails and designer décor. Grab a seat in the neat little mezzanine where you can look down on the bar as the Singapore Slings are being slung.
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Ecco Vino
With outdoor tables on sunny afternoons, and cosy candle-lit intimacy in the evenings, this comfortably cramped Tuscan-style wine bar offers a tempting range of Italian wines, though only a few are available by the glass - best to share a bottle.
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Ego
A glitzy two-floor venue housed in a former casino with huge Renaissance-style wall paintings, gay-friendly Ego dishes up everything from the dance classics of Fever (second Saturday of the month from ) to the hard house and trance of Nuklear Puppy (second Friday of the month from ).
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Great Grog Wine Bar
A chilled-out haven in the middle of bustling Rose St, Great Grog is the ideal place to kick back in a leather sofa and choose from a list of more than 30 wines available by the glass (if you want to go for a whole bottle, the choice increases to over 100 varieties).
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Guildford Arms
Located next door to the Café Royal, the Guildford is another classic Victorian pub full of polished mahogany, brass and ornate cornices. The beer is excellent and the bar lunches are good; try to get a table in the unusual upstairs gallery, with a view over the sea of drinkers down below.
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Indigo Yard
Set around an airy, stone-floored and glass-roofed courtyard, Indigo Yard is a fashionable West End watering hole that has been patronised by the likes of Liam Gallagher, Pierce Brosnan and Kylie Minogue. Good food - including open-air barbecues during the summer months - just adds to the attraction.
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Jolly Judge
Tucked away down an Old Town close, the Judge exudes a cosy 17th-century ambience with its low, timber-beamed, painted ceilings and numerous nooks and crannies. The convivial atmosphere is undisturbed by TV, music or gambling machines, and has the added attraction of a log fire in cold weather.
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Jongleurs
This branch of the nationwide chain of comedy clubs stages comedy shows on Friday and Saturday nights all year round, with four in-house stand-ups and occasional gigs by big-name UK comics. The shows end at , but you can keep on drinking and dancing until .
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Kay's Bar
Housed in a former wine-merchant's office, tiny Kay's Bar is a cosy haven with red leather benches, a gleaming mahogany bar and a fine range of real ales and malt whiskies. Old wine and sherry barrels adorn one wall, and a cast-iron fireplace holds a coal fire in winter. At lunch time food is served in the tiny back room (only two tables, so get in early or book ahead).
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Kenilworth
A gorgeous Edwardian drinking palace, complete with original fittings - from the tile floors, mahogany circle bar and gantry, to the ornate mirrors and gas lamps - the Kenilworth was Edinburgh's original gay bar back in the 1970s. Today it attracts a mixed crowd of all ages and serves a good range of real ales and malt whiskies.
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Lulu
Lush leather sofas, red satin cushions, fetishistic steel mesh curtains and dim red lighting all help to create a decadent atmosphere in this drop-dead gorgeous club venue beneath the Tigerlily boutique hotel. Resident and guest DJs show a bit more originality than your average club.
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Mathers
Mathers is the 40-something generation's equivalent of the 20-something's Basement bar across the street: a friendly, relaxed pub with Edwardian decor serving real ales and good pub grub, with football and rugby matches on the TV.
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Old Chain Pier
The Old Chain Pier is an award-winning real ale pub, full of polished wood, brass and nautical paraphernalia and with a brilliant location overlooking the sea. The building was once the 19th-century booking office for steamers across the Firth of Forth (the pier from which it takes its name was washed away in a storm in 1898).
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Old Dock Bar
Although it has been through several incarnations since it opened in 1813, the Old Dock Bar has returned to its original role of a convivial, traditional Leith pub, with cosy wood-partitioned booths and outdoor tables overlooking the water in summer. It serves good old-fashioned pub grub as well as a good range of real ales and quality wines.
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Oloroso Lounge Bar
The roof-top lounge at the Oloroso restaurant would be at home in New York, Paris or London. Sleek leather sofas and floor-to-ceiling windows allow comfortable views across the city to Arthur's Seat, and the drinks menu includes gourmet offerings such as a Berry Balsamic Champagne Cocktail (Pommery rosé blended with strawberries, black pepper and balsamic vinegar).
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Opal Lounge
One of Edinburgh's trendiest bars, the Opal is jammed at weekends with affluent 20-somethings who've spent two hours in front of the mirror achieving that artlessly scruffy look. During the week, when the air-kissing, cocktail-sipping crowds thin out, it's a good place to relax with a fruit smoothie (or one of those expensive but excellent cocktails) and sample the tasty Asian food on offer.
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Oxford Bar
The Oxford is that rarest of things these days, a real pub for real people, with no theme, no music, no frills and no pretensions. 'The Ox' has been immortalised by Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels, who is a regular here, as is his fictional detective.
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Pear Tree House
The Pear Tree is another student favourite, with comfy sofas and board games inside, plus the city centre's biggest beer garden outside. There's a Monday night quiz and live music in the garden on Sunday afternoons in summer.
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Port O'Leith
Open from early morning to serve local dock workers, this is a good, old-fashioned, friendly local boozer with an anchor above the door and a cosy interior swathed with flags and cap bands left behind by visiting sailors (the harbour is just down the road). Pop in for a pint and you'll end up staying till closing time.
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Red Vodka Club
Red is a stylish, dimly lit, cellar-like venue with a bar that specialises in flavoured and frozen vodkas. Pretty much every night is a club night, with drinks promos during the week; Fridays focus on house music, Saturdays are for R'n'B.
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Regent
This is a pleasant, gay local with a relaxed atmosphere (no loud music), serving coffee and croissants plus excellent real ales, including Deuchars IPA and Caledonian 80/-. Meeting place for the Lesbian and Gay Real Ale Drinkers club ( first Monday of month).
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Robertsons 37
No 37 is to malt whisky connoisseurs what the Diggers once was to real-ale fans. Its long gantry sports a choice of more than 100 single malts, and the bar provides a quiet and elegant environment in which to sample them.
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Sheep Heid
Possibly the oldest licensed premises in Edinburgh - dating back to 1360 - the Sheep Heid is more like a country pub than a city bar. Set in the semi-rural shadow of Arthur's Seat, it's famous for its 19th-century skittles alley and lovely beer garden. The name comes from an ornamental snuff box in the form of a sheep's head that was presented to the inn by James VI in 1580, and is commemorated in a carving which sits above the bar.
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Southsider
Always busy with students and regulars, the Southsider is a big, old-fashioned, slightly rough-around-the-edges pub that pulls in people from further afield with a good selection of real ales, table football, Wednesday night pub quizzes, and live music on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Stand Comedy Club
The Stand, founded in 1995, is Edinburgh's main comedy venue. It's a cabaret bar - you can eat and drink as well as laugh - with shows every night (doors open ), plenty of big-name appearances, and a free improv show at Sunday lunch time.
