The best time to take the tour is definitely during the Festival as the entire city is packed full of people and there is a buzz and party atmosphere in the air. August also provides a chance to get some good weather, it does happen sometimes in Scotland , and touring around in an open top bus in glorious sunshine is pretty much unbeatable, especially with the architecture and sights that Edinburgh has to offer.

In addition to the castle, the tour goes past the Scottish Parliament which allows you to examine exactly where the final cost of over £400m went. It may be a fantastic looking building but its definitely not worth that sort of money!

If you have children with you, the thought of history may sound boring to them but they will love the Greyfriars Bobby memorial which is situated at one of the stops, so there is definitely something for all the family to enjoy from the open top bus tour.