The Edinburgh Festival has been named one of the top 25 'Ultimate Experiences' in the world.

The list has been compiled by Rough Guides to celebrate their 25th birthday. The respected travel guide publishers are releasing Rough Guides 25s - a series of twenty five new books, each of which focuses on twenty five top experiences from a selected region. The editors have picked just one experience from each book to go forward into their Ultimate 25 list though. The Edinburgh Festival which has been chosen from the Rough Guides 25 Ultimate Experiences Britain and Ireland book.

The Fringe, which is the world's largest arts festival, sees thousands of comedy fans descend upon the Scottish capital each August for three weeks of laughs. The Festival features a diverse range of comedy shows with both famous stand-ups and new comedians putting on shows. The Fringe is often where new comedians are 'discovered' - Tim Minchin, The Mighty Boosh, Tim Vine, Harry Hill, Frank Skinner and Sean Hughes are just a few of the comedians to have found fame via Edinburgh.

Other ultimate experiences in the voting include Hot-Air Ballooning in Africa, visiting Stomboli (the active volcano in Italy), seeing the Terracotta Army and celebrating Queen's Day in Amsterdam.

Rough Guides are now inviting the public to help decide which experience on their shortlist should be crowned the Ultimate Experience. To see the top 25 experiences and vote for your ultimate visit roughguides.com.