The main reason you might avoid certain times of year in Edinburgh is the weather, but then that's simply too unpredictable for long-term planning.

But try, if you can, to avoid January and November: both are relatively cold and rainy, with none of the Christmas fun to cheer things up.

At other times the weather is a little more cheerful here than in much of the rest of Scotland, but still not exactly wonderful: mean daily maximum temperatures generally range between about 6–18ºC/42–64ºF over the entire year and there's often quite a bit of wind to further cool things too.

Always pack a sweater and waterproof jacket.

Festivals

While Edinburgh is pretty much a year-round destination, its at it's best during the August festival season (which includes the Fringe; the International Festival; the Book Festival the Jazz Festival Link; and the Edinburgh Tattoo) and at Hogmanay, during Britain's biggest New Year's event that spreads over several days.