Edinburgh for The Thrill Seekers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Drop the bags and go: up the steep path from Holyrood past the Crags to the 251 m summit, down the gentle side to Duddingston before the light goes.

A climbing wall built into a Victorian church by the harbour; a casual session needs a quick belay check, or stick to the bouldering room.

Tapas-sized curries so you can order the whole menu after a climb; the chilli garlic chicken and a Cobra, no booking for two.

Bus 101 to the Flotterstone inn, then the ridge over Turnhouse and Carnethy to Scald Law at 579 m, with the Forth and the Highlands beyond on a clear day.

Europe's longest dry ski slope on the Pentland edge, with a chairlift and tubing; an hour's session with boots and skis, the city laid out below.

Tom Kitchin's gastropub for the recovery meal: steak pie, a plate of chips and a pint of Jarl, with the fire lit by autumn.

Twenty-five minutes down the East Coast line, then two kilometres along the John Muir Way to the bay where he grew up; big sky, long beach.

A two-hour lesson in a 5 mm wetsuit on a beach break that works at most tides; the North Sea is cold, the instructors are not.

Teapot cocktails and big plates in a corner pub by the Water of Leith; the burger and the pie are the right end to a day in the sea.

Out along the river from Stockbridge to the Shore at Leith, six kilometres on gravel and cobbles, herons at the weirs, back by bus 36.

A 1900 Victorian pool with iron balconies and a 25 m tank; lanes for a hard half hour, then the sauna if your legs ask for it.

Doughnuts and a filled sourdough roll at the counter of the city's best bakery, a ten-minute walk from the tram to the airport.