April 2013
They're having a laugh at the National Portrait Gallery, where Scottish comedy merchants are the subject of the Tickling Jock exhibition. Featuring greats from Rikki Fulton to Ivor Cutler, by way of Lulu and Billy Connolly, visitors are invited to enjoy audio and video clips in special listening booths. Until 25 May (Queen Street, tel: 0131 624 6200, nationalgalleries.org).

March 2013
Takin' Over the Asylum, the cult TV series about a DJ working in a Glasgow psychiatric ward, has been adapted for the stage by original writer Donna Franceschild. Brian Vernel plays Campbell, the role which broke David Tennant into television. (From 13 March, Royal Lyceum, Grindlay Street, tel: 0131 248 4848).

January 2013
The Southside, just past the Meadows, is a great place to browse for antiques and clock quirky architectural anomalies, such as Basil Spence's iconic 1960s garage (now a wine emporium) among the 19th-century tenements.

December 2012
East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct are the centre of Edinburgh's Christmas celebrations. Here are the German market, fun fair and rides, all in something of a fairytale setting in the shadow of the Castle and Old Town skyline.

January 2013
The Lammermuir Hills, half an hour's drive east of the city, are not as vertiginous as the Highlands. But they still provide rugged walking across lonely, heather-filled hillsides, with long views south across the Borders and north across the Forth.

December 2012
Head for the Pentland Hills just beyond the city bypass to enjoy a day's gentle walking. It's hardly remote, but you can get there by bus and back to the city before dark. Lothian buses No.10, to Torphin, and No.15, to Hillend, are convenient (http://www.pentlandhills.org/).