A great place to stop after a walk on Arthur's Seat, the Engine Shed is an unpretentious vegetarian cafe-cum-community project (several of the staff have Down's Syndrome, for example). Give something back to the local community and stop here - also handy for Inspector Rebus sites...

19 St Leonard's Lane, Edinburgh, EH8 9SD

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Torcello is the island at the north of the Venetian lagoon that might have been Venice, and that Venice might have been. In their early days they were equally populous, but Venice prospered and Torcello dwindled; as a result, you can find quiet and contemplation on Torcello that sometimes eludes one in Venice itself.

Especially noteworthy for church junkies is the Ciesa Santa Maria Assunta, with its mosaics of the Last Judgement and of the Virgin and child, heavily Byzantine influenced but with some North European influence too.

Take a vaporetto to Burano, a picturesque little island in its own right, and then the Traghetto to Murano.

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Plaisir is the chocolate-lover's G-spot. Hot chocolate, bitter with chillies or creamy with creme de chantilly and whisky; towering three-layer gateaux of pear and ganache; bon-bons; tartes and brioches. Baudelaire decorates the floor; silver samavars the walls. Ideally, have the gateaux OR the hot chocolate - both can kill you! (Also serves dozens of teas - but not coffee).

251-251 Canongate
www.plaisirduchocolat.com

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There's no better way to get a handle on Edinburgh's transformation in the late 18th century. Gladstone's Land shows how the old high-rises of the medieval city, where poor and rich lived in the same block, were gradually tarted up with drawing rooms. 7 Charlotte Square showcases the new suburbs that were the Georgian New Town - built, ultimately, with money from the Highland Clearances.

Gladstone's Lane on the Lawnmarket, near the Castle; 7 Charlotte Square at the west end of George Street.

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Maid of the Forth makes up to three trips to Inchcolm a day in the summer season, depending on tides. The trip takes three hours altogether. You pass under the Forth Rail bridge, see the islands in the Firth, and land on Inchcolm, an atmospheric island with a ruined Augustinian abbey and lots of sea-birds.

The ruins include some important rooms which survive nearly intact: an octagonal chapter house; a refectory with reading alcove (great acoustics in both); and the dormitory and calefactory.

www.dpro.co.uk/maid/index.shtml
www.cyberscotia.com/inchcolm/

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