John o' Groats (Scottish Gaelic: Taigh Iain Ghròta) is a village 2.5 mi (4 km) north-east of Canisbay, in the historic county of Caithness, Scotland.

[1] The settlement takes its name from Jan de Groot,[2] a 15th-century Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had recently been acquired from Norway by King James IV.

[3] The village is dispersed, but has a linear centre with council housing, sports park, and a shop, which is on the main road from the nearest town of Wick.

[8] It was closed for several years and fell into disrepair, until undergoing a radical transformation by Edinburgh-based architects GLM for self-catering holiday specialists Natural Retreats.

The house was of an octagon shape, being one room, with eight windows and eight doors, to admit eight members of the family; the heads of different branches of it, to prevent their quarrels for precedence at table.

Visitors paid a fee for a photograph of themselves next to the signpost, displaying either a message or the date and distance to a location of their choice.

The original site was bought in 2013, as part of the hotel redevelopment, and the signpost was moved to a caravan park 200 yd (180 m) away.