See the Sights while you're at the Fringe

For the first time ever, street performers showcasing their talents on the Royal Mile during the Fringe will have to pay for the privilege. The welter of acts ranging from jugglers to mime artists impersonating statues and everything else in between will have to pay £20 a week to perform in the High Street arena. This year's Fringe runs from the 3rd - 25th August. What passes for public entertainment has altered considerably, as visitors to Edinburgh with either of the Walk Talk Tour iPod travel guides will discover.

Parliament Square close to St Giles Cathedral was once the site of the Tolbooth prison where condemned men awaited their fate. Listeners to the Royal Mile & More mp3 guided tour can learn how one seemingly respectable member of eighteenth century Edinburgh society, William Brodie, ended up in the Tolbooth prison. Brodie is often referred to as Deacon Brodie because he was the deacon (or leader) of the guild of cabinet makers from 1781. Seven years later, Brodie was hanged on gallows he had built himself on 1st October, 1788! Find out what caused Brodie to pay with his life. And hear which famous Scottish novelist was reputedly inspired by his story with the Royal Mile & More city guide. To hear an audio sample from the Royal Mile & More downloadable travel guide please click here.

Each tour is divided into commentary points. Verbal instructions are provided at the end of each commentary point, so Walk Talk Tourists can continue their tour. In addition, each tour comes with a downloadable map to help users get from A to B.

The site where the Prison once stood is marked by a heart shaped mosaic set in the cobbles. This is the Heart of Midlothian, a name which has been adopted by one of Edinburgh’s two professional football teams. The Tolbooth Prison was demolished in 1817.

Visitors wishing to enjoy the rich history of the Old Town and the refined elegance of the New Town can do so with the Old & New Towns podcast guided tour. The tourist guide begins outside Edinburgh Castle, before tourists descend to the Grassmarket where public executions often used to take place. To hear an audio sample from the Old & New Towns podcast guided tour please click here.

Edinburgh in August can be an expensive place. Tourists and interested locals can learn about the city's fascinating history with a Walk Talk Tour, burn a calorie or two and do their bit for the environment all rolled into one. The Edinburgh tours retail at £5.95 and there are significant discounts for groups and parties.

Edinburgh Comedy Festival or the Fringe?

The promoter of the if.comedy awards, Nica Burns, has warned managers of Edinburgh's top four comedy venues not to breakaway from the Fringe Festival which is synonmus with Edinburgh in August. Burns' warning came after the four biggest Fringe venues - the Assembley, the Gilded Balloon, the Underbelly and The Pleasance announced - that the comic shows put on in their venues would be termed as part of The Edinburgh Comedy Festival.

Duplication will be the name of the game for ticket holders for comedy shows at any of the four venues, as the Assembley, the Gilded Ballon, the Underbelly and the Pleasance have produced 400,000 copies of their own Comedy Festival Programme. But their acts also appear in the main Fringe Programme that was released in June. So long as everyone realises that the two names refer to the same thing as regards comedy at the above venues that's fine...

Anthony Alderson the Director of the Pleasance was quoted in The Scotsman on Tuesday 15th April as saying: "We do not want to be separate from the Fringe, just give comedy its own platform."

Visitors to Edinburgh can clear their heads, stretch their legs and learn something new about the city with a Walk Talk Tour mp3 guided tour. Walk Talk Tours brings you two podcast guided tours of the Scottish capital: The Royal Mile & More Tour and The Old and New Towns Tour.

The Assembly Rooms have been the venue for the Assembly for over twenty-five years. Confused, again? It's not intentional on my part, honestly. Musicians, top stand up comics and theatre all take place in the annual August extravaganza. Listeners to the Old and New Towns iPod travel guide can discover which well known British comedian fell foul of Scotland's anti-smoking ban in the not too distant past.

Visitors with the audio tourist guide will learn about some of the famous visitors to have been entertained - and as in the case of Charles Dickens in 1841, when he was made a freeman of the City of Edinburgh - honoured in the Assembly Rooms.

To hear an audio sample from the Old and New Towns tour please click here. To see the route of the podcast guide in full, please click here.