You know that habit most of us have where we go on holiday and come back trying to recreate some wonderful experience? It’s usually a recipe, inspired by a dish which blew your taste buds.

Or it might be a new drink you tried, or a style tweak to your home or wardrobe after you saw some cool new trend. It might even be a change to how you keep fit and healthy, if you’re one of those wellness types.

Well, I returned from holiday this year not with a dish or drink to copy but with a whole new concept for the Scottish tourism industry to adopt.

It’s such a perfect fit for this country that I can’t understand why we haven’t done it already. And it’s this: cashing in on Scotland's world famous myths and legends by creating a Scottish Folklore Route for tourists.

I’m not being wildly innovative here, I’m simply copying what I saw on holiday in Germany - just like I try copying a recipe every year when I come home from my travels. Only this year, it’s an idea not a dish.

Let me explain. This summer I travelled the German Fairytale Route - Deutsche Märchenstraße. It was created by the German tourist board and runs for about 500 miles from Hanau in the centre of the country to the northern city of Bremen.

Now, some of the sites are well known, like Hameln, famed for the Pied Piper; or Bremen, for the Musicians of Bremen.

Performers at the Samhuinn Fire Festival celebration on top of Calton Hill, Edinburgh (Image: Gordon Terris)

But I didn’t know that Bad Wildungen was associated with Snow White, or that Alsfeld was linked to Little Red Riding Hood. Some of the stories were equally new to me, as were the towns, like Göttingen and the creepy tale of the Goose Girl.

If you want castles with legends try Sababurg Castle and Sleeping Beauty, or Trendleburg Castle and........

© Herald Scotland