John O' Groats Hotel And New Signpost, John O' Groats Hotel, Caithness, Scotland, UK. Royalty-Free Stock Photography

John O' Groats Hotel and new Signpost, John O' Groats Hotel, Caithness, Scotland, UK. John O'Groats is well worth a visit. Simply, the peace and quietness here, coupled with the sounds of the Ocean, means this place is one of those spots where you can feel the world around you and just take it all in. Local legend has that the "o' Groats" refers to John's charge of one groat for use of his ferry, but it actually derives from the Dutch de groot, meaning "the large". People from John o' Groats are known as "Groaters". The settlement takes its name from Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had recently been acquired from Norway by King James IV. Local legend has that the "o' Groats" refers to John's charge of one groat for use of his ferry, but it actually derives from the Dutch de groot, meaning "the large". People from John o' Groats are known as "Groaters". The name John o' Groats has a particular resonance because it is often used as a starting or ending point for cycles, walks and charitable events to and from Land's End (at the extreme south-western tip of the Cornish peninsula in England). The phrase Land's End to John o' Groats is frequently heard both as a literal journey (being the longest possible in Great Britain) and as a metaphor for great or all-encompassing