The weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful...

On the streets of Edinburgh, people are in a flurry as the snow goes on swirling around us – their boots, sneakers and heels stamping snow into snirt. These days, reading the news also feels like trudging through enough man-made ruins of our time to line Leith Walk. This year, winter has taken on another meaning altogether.

Which is why we should learn from the animals: it’s time to hibernate like the groundhogs or go “denning” like the bears. Quit mucking about with the world and stay still in one spot. The human way, of course. Indoors. Seek asylum from the crazy out-there and nurse a cuppa in these quieter, linger-friendly cafes:

Hula

Sitting at the bottom of the West Bow slope at the edge of the Grassmarket, Hula looks like it’s hidden under a rock. The ideal place for denning, except it looks nothing like a dark cave. Brightly lit, with rainbow-coloured signboards and mismatched chairs, it seems to be perpetually summer in this roomy, off-beat café.

The café’s usually quiet, though it’s hard to see why. So peculiar as to be endearing, it doubles up as an art gallery and has, bizzarely, a glass display of vintage shoes for sale. You may get a pineapple for company at your table too, if you’re lucky. With an inventive variety of smoothies and juices with names like Rapid Rabbit and Stingray, Hula’s quirky sense of fun is contagious. And if you’re not sufficiently deluded by the Hawaiian themed décor to order a cold drink, they even have hot juices (apple and cinnamon!) to cater to those (in)sane enough to be avoiding caffeine or cocoa.

Their food is simple and comforting: my toasted wrap with roasted peppers and guacamole achieves a delicate balance between being crunchy and moist, though the lentil soup could do with a bit more tang. However, the music more than makes up for this: ranging from Beatles to blues to happy tropical reggae, it’s hard not to linger in this Tiki-tiki hut.

Though the prices may be slightly steeper than most cafes, they do wrap-and-soup deals for £4.50, and coffee comes with chocolate too. Grab a cushion, a slice of their house chocolate-fudge cake and sit by the large glass windows of this alternative world of Hula, where the sun always shines.

Treehouse Cafe

Tucked away in an obscure corner of Tollcross, the leaf-green/wooden-brown colour scheme of Treehouse is a warm invitation for an afternoon siesta. Almost everything is made-to-order in the small kitchen behind the café counter, making this feel like a favourite aunt’s living room where you can be guaranteed wholesome soups, inspired sandwiches, some fresh-out-of-the-oven cake and even pancakes for breakfast.

Large windows lend the café natural sunlight, and if you’re alone, you can opt to nest by their “study-tables” that look directly out into the streets. Students get 10% discounts, though prices are already student-friendly. For £3, you can get a cake and really exceptional coffee: they do pride themselves on hiring only first-rate baristas.

The tidy, unsoiled café features live folk music on Sunday afternoons, so be warned. Once you plant yourself here, uprooting may prove difficult. However, when the café closes at 5, you may consider seeking shelter at Cameo Cinema across the road, where it’s the Oscar season, after all. These options seem to be clearing the clouds of the generally gloomy state of global affairs. What was that saying again, about missing the wood for the trees?

Saint Giles Café & Bar

But if you should like to extend your habitation into the night, enter the cave of Saint Giles. Stone walls, high ceilings and seductive bossa nova music give this two-storey bistro a lair-like charm. An informal café in the day-time, it offers pastries and the usual lunchtime varieties to tourists, businessmen armed with their papers and bookish types intent on staying awhile. In the evenings, however, it dims into a candle-lit bar. Up the spiral wooden stairs, the quieter second level is home to black faux-leather sofas that welcome serious hibernators.

Just off the Royal Mile, nosh here is expectedly pricier, though far from exceptional in quality. I suspect the main attractions, besides its atmosphere, are its late closing hours and comfort sweets. Their hot chocolate, with a generous serving of whipped cream and marshmallows, is as luxurious as their cakes and hot Belgium waffles. All are served with whipped cream, drizzled with caramel and dusted with cocoa powder. Despite being a tad too sweet for my liking, both the chocolate and carrot cake are soothingly moist and well-textured. When complemented with the café’s strong caffeinated brew, however, the sweets manage to strike a right balance. Which goes for the wait-staff too: they’re attentive without being overly intrusive.

Albert Camus may have already found the answer to coming in from the cold when he wrote, “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” I don’t know about you, but my blundering, don’t-slip-on-that-slush self takes some comfort in the existence of these burrows and leaf-piles to hide out in while I await that spring.