Summerhall

Established in 2011 by 81-year-old festival impresario Richard De Marco, Summerhall was once the Royal (Dick) Vet School but is now Edinburgh's hippest – and strangest — arts hub and Fringe venue. It's a magnet for adventurous night owls, catering for the truly sleep-avoidant this festival season with "24h", a one-man Fringe play running from 6am to 6am the next day. Along with theatre, visual art, music, film, fashion and photography, this ramshackle and tantalisingly macabre venue hosts a late-night Festival Club offering live music and quirky cabaret throughout August. In the Royal Dick bar, punters lounge till late on mismatched couches drinking Barney's Beer – brewed on site in the original 18th-century Summerhall Brewery.
• 1 Summerhall, 0845 874 3000/1, summerhall.co.uk, Royal Dick open midday-3am. Not all Summerhall spaces are accessible – inquire in advance. Tickets for "24h" (22 and 25 August only), £1

Hotel Missoni bar

Because you can't spend the whole of August drinking beer from a plastic glass in a damp marquee, the bar at five-star Hotel Missoni, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle on the Royal Mile, is your essential stop-off for a superior nightcap after that must-see midnight Fringe show. Bag a stool at the oval lobby bar and browse a drinks menu that gives an Italian twist to classic cocktails. It's also the only place where you'll find draught prosecco served on tap. A favourite of the fashion crowd, this is a place to see and be seen – even the doormen wear Missoni kilts – and if you keep your eyes peeled you may spot some celebs strolling in through the lobby, on the way to their luxurious rooms upstairs.
• 1 George IV Bridge, 0131-220 6666, hotelmissoni.com, bar open 10am-2am in August

Spiegelterrace and The Famous Spiegeltent

The newest late-night pop-up drinking destination is the Spiegelterrace, alongside that iconic mobile cabaret venue The Famous Spiegeltent. A 90m stretch of Edinburgh's upmarket shopping-drinking-and-dining thoroughfare, George Street, has been turned into an elegant urban garden terrace outside the newly restored Assembly Rooms venue, for the month of August. The Spiegelterrace bar is open only till midnight, but the nightclub bar inside The Famous Spiegeltent – where you can see cabaret acts such as La Clique – carries on until 2am and you can enjoy your drinks outside on the terrace.
• George St, between Hanover St and Frederick St, arfringe.com, Spiegelterrace bar 10am-midnight. The Famous Club Spiegel in The Famous Spiegeltent 11.15pm-2am, entry £10, no booking required

Favorit

Temperature-wise, Edinburgh in August can feel more like early autumn than late summer – especially late at night. So while the outdoor Fringe bars are sheltered from rain and warmed by space heaters, you may prefer to retreat indoors for your post-midnight munchies. This is where Favorit scores highly: a scone's throw from the hotspots of Udderbelly and the Gilded Balloon, it's a retro 50s-style American diner offering affordable comfort food and snacks till 3am. Try its legendary nachos, well-filled paninis, waffles and ice-cream Coke floats, a freshly made smoothie or a pot of mint tea. There's a good selection of wines, cocktails and speciality beers, too.
• 19-20 Teviot Place, 0131-220 6880, no website, open midday-3am in August

Sheraton Hotel

This five-star hotel had a multi-million pound upgrade a few months ago, from its rooftop spa pool to the new One Square lobby bar that overlooks Festival Square. This is one of the chicest spots to wind down after a long night on the town, in a glass-fronted lounge bar that stretches across the front of the hotel and is open to non-residents. Brightly coloured armchairs and sofas make for an informal feel, as does the DJ who plays Thursday to Saturday. Food service stops at 11pm, but you can drink till 1am and the 40-strong gin selection is a speciality here, so why not round off the evening with an expertly crafted martini and panoramic views of Festival Square?
• 1 Festival Square, 0131-229 9131, sheratonedinburgh.co.uk, One Square bar open to non-residents till 1am nightly

The Jazz Bar

This multi-award-winning Edinburgh institution is one of the most laidback after-dark spots in town. Offering up to four live acts a night, it features not only jazz but also funk, soul, folk, classical and hiphop performers. The audience is as diverse as the music and you don't have to be a jazz fan to appreciate the ambience in this basement bar. You can choose from a good range of reasonably priced beers, wines and spirits – including the intriguingly named Jazz Vodka, imported from Poland – all night, every night. There are bar snacks available, and free Wi-Fi if you want to tweet or share photos of the action. The club's modest door charge (cash only) goes to the performers.
• 1A Chambers St, 0131-220 4298, thejazzbar.co.uk, August opening hours 5pm-5am Mon-Fri, 2.30pm-5am Sat-Sun. Entry charges vary depending on gigs. No disabled access

All-nighter: Alien Anthology

In Edinburgh in August, no one can hear you scream. If the tumult of the city-wide festival becomes all too much and you can't stomach one more juggling act or mimed Kabuki version of The Leveson Inquiry, fear not – you don't have to retreat to your bed with a pair of earplugs. Edinburgh's Cameo Cinema is offering respite, for one night only, in the form of this all-night movie marathon. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch all five films in the "Alien" canon consecutively, from "Prometheus" via "Alien", "Aliens" and "Alien 3" to "Alien Resurrection". That's a full 609 minutes of Ripley action, so wear your most comfortable clothes and pack some power-snacks to keep you going.
• 38 Home St, 0871 902 5723, picturehouses.co.uk, Friday 10 August, starts 8.30pm

Boom Boom Club

A sprawling, after-hours extravaganza of comedy, cabaret, live music and promenade performances takes over three rooms across the top floor of the vast, labyrinthian Underbelly HQ, in Edinburgh's atmospheric Old Town. Exploring this ancient, multi-storey building is an adventure in itself – enter around midnight on the top floor via Victoria Street; stagger out several hours later and numerous floors below on the Cowgate, to go in search of an early breakfast. It's a trip. Fringe favourites appearing at Boom Boom Club include Frisky and Mannish, The Boy With Tape On His Face and cabaret star Dusty Limits.
• Underbelly Cowgate, 56 Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, underbelly.co.uk/boom-boom-club-edinburgh, 8-26 August, 12.30am-4am, tickets £13.50 (£12.50 concs)

Speed of Light

Energy to burn late at night? Go running up that hill in the dark: one of the most original and ambitious events in this year's Edinburgh International Festival is a nighttime outdoor public art performance, in which you can play a part. Described as "a mass choreographed act of walking and endurance running", it's staged on Arthur's Seat, the dramatic peak that looms high above Edinburgh. As a participant, you follow hundreds of sequenced runners wearing remote-controlled light suits as they ascend the path networks, bringing Edinburgh's nighttime landscape to life with light, colour and movement. Each performance last 2.5 hours, the last one starting at 11pm. Food and drink are available on site, outdoor clothing and sturdy footwear are essential.
• Guided walking groups meet every 15 mins from 9.15pm to 11pm at Speed of Light base, Holyrood Park Parade Ground. 0131-473 2000, eif.co.uk/speedoflight, tickets £24, £18 concs. Over-12s only, under-16s must be accompanied by an adult

Library Bar and Loft Bar at the Gilded Balloon

Edinburgh University's Teviot building becomes the Gilded Balloon venue for the duration of the Fringe, bursting at the seams with international theatre, comedy and cabaret acts in nine separate spaces from morning till, well, morning. The venue houses seven bars in total, but the ones everyone wants to infiltrate are the elegant Library Bar and buzzing Loft Bar, because they stay open till 5am and are where you're most likely to bump elbows with big-name comedians, actors and random visiting celebs. Entry is supposedly restricted to performers, the press and invited guests of the Gilded Balloon, but half the fun of the Fringe is charming your way past the door staff – it's not that hard – then discovering that even top comedians with primetime TV shows queue up to drink mediocre wine out of plastic glasses.
• Teviot Row House, 13 Bristo Square, 0131-622 6555, gildedballoon.co.uk, Loft Bar 12pm-5am; Library Bar 11am-5am

• For more nightlife and drinking venues in Edinburgh check out our other guides: Top 10 bars in Edinburgh and Top 10 clubs and music venues in Edinburgh