This week, Edinburgh marks the half way point of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Edinburgh festival, events which draw thousands of people to the city.
It's one of the busiest seasons of the year for Scottish tourism, which welcomed 2.56 million overseas visitors in 2009, three percent more than the year before.
Including visitors from the UK, Scotland's visitor count jumps to 15 million, spending £4.1 billion (€4.95 billion) in the country and making tourism a far bigger contributor to the Scottish economy than it is to the UK economy on average.
According to official figures, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow is Scotland's most popular free tourist attraction, while Edinburgh Castle is the most popular attraction with paid admission.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh contains some of Scotland's most popular attractions, including Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Zoo and the National Gallery Complex, Edinburgh. The Chester Residence took top spot from the Holyrood Aparthotel, which was described as a "great location and concept".
1 The Chester Residence
2 Holyrood Aparthotel
3 Tigerlily
4 Atholl Brae Royal Mile
5 Fountain Court Apartments EQ-2
Average price of top five $221 - $415/€172 - €323
Glasgow
Glasgow is Scotland's second city and the most populous city in the country. Travelers raved about the boutique Blythswood Square hotel, which took top spot among Glasgow's properties and pushed the Hotel du Vin into second place.
1 Blythswood Square
2 Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens
3 Menzies Glasgow Hotel
4 Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow
5 City Inn Glasgow
Average price of top five $135 - $267/€105 - €208
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is an economic powerhouse and popular with business visitors because of the extensive oil industry the city supports. Despite this, it offers some excellent-value hotels, led by two Skene House properties and the City Wharf apartments.
1 Skene House Rosemount
2 City Wharf Apartments
3 Skene House Whitehall
4 Bauhaus Hotel
5 Malmaison Aberdeen
Average price of top five $133 - $190/€104 - €148
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth largest city in Scotland, with visitors describing the Taychreggan hotel as "a real find".
1 Taychreggan Hotel & Restaurant
2 Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa
3 Forbes of Kingennie
4 Holiday Inn Express Dundee
5 Premier Inn Dundee
Average price of top five $113/€88
Paisley
Although it borders Glasgow, Paisley is a separate urban area and the fifth most populous in Scotland. Scotscraig House was the most popular among the city's hotels and B&Bs.
1 Scotscraig House
2 Ashtree House
3 Dryesdale Airport Guesthouse
4 Abbey Inn
5 Myfarrclan Guest House
Average price of top five $85/€66
Data is taken from millions of independent reviews and rankings surveyed at TripAdvisor taken on August 18, 2010.
Website: http://www.tripadvisor.com
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