Your best bet: Wander up and down the Royal Mile, see weirdos trying to drum up business for their Fringe shows, get handed hundreds of flyers, then take it from there!

These sites are useful for reviews:
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/reviews.cfm

http://www.edfringe.com/reviews/?r_menu=global&static=true

Try the half price hut on top of Princes Mall (above Waverley Station) – you might save a fortune!

When all the festival frenzy gets too much, a good place to chill out is the Spiegeltent at Charlotte Square (where the book festival is) – free live music every night from about 9pm with a bar in a classic 1930s Belgian mirrored tent type thing, a great opportunity to have a drink somewhere different (only there from August 12th to 28th) and listen to some chilled out music – you can pick up a list of what music is on in the entrance tent of Charlotte Square.
The Green Mountain coffee shop at the back of the bookshop tent does good coffee too if you are there earlier in the day….....
http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/information/eat_and_drink.html

You can’t go wrong with the Pleasance courtyard for some comedy, generally just going to the boxoffice and asking for what is good works pretty well…

Also for a good night out I’d recommend either The Jazz Bar (not just jazz!) or The Speigel Tent.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking the Mercat (I don’t know if I am spelling that right, but it means Merchant in Scottish Gaelic) Tours of the vault! They meet around sunset on the Royal Mile. It’s a great time! If you have a day, sign up for a bus trip to Loch Ness, you can also do that on the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle is okay, but it doesn’t consume as much of a day as one would think.

If you are into graveyards… you MUST check out the cemetery by the Cathedral at the corner of Lothian Road and Princess St. In fact, you should really just take a few hours to wander around the gardens in that area… you can’t miss them, and the view of the castle is spectacular.

If you are interested in going to some AWESOME clubs, there are three you can not miss. The first is the Frankenstein Pub. I don’t recall the street, but I know I could get there from the #23 bus line. You can’t miss it, it’s an old church. Also, Jekyll & Hyde’s… this is on George St., I believe. (Down on the Princess St. end of town). The third is the Belfry, also accessible from the #23 bus line,and farther from the Royal Mile than Frankenstein’s. It isn’t a real landmark, but you should be able to find your way there by asking where Sean Connery’s school is. I only know this because it was next door to my B&B, the Belfry was a few blocks from that.

Have a great time on your trip! I am aching to go back!

edinburgh has so much for everyone it totally depends what lights your candle. history or comedy, views or shopping, fringe or outskirts. i would agree the vaults tour is fascinating if you like the eerie side of things. ladyboys of bangkok are a giggle for a girls night. chat to people and ask, they are a friendly bunch.