Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road walkers typically walk about and take two or three months for the expedition. Signposts indicate the traditional distance at each end.
Land's End is the traditionally acknowledged extreme western point of mainland England. It is in western Cornwall at the end of the Penwith peninsula. The O. S. Grid reference of the road end is SW342250, Postcode TR19 7AA. In fact it, or strictly speaking Dr Syntax's Head, SW341253, a few hundred yards NW of the road end, is mainland England's most westerly point.Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=134150&y=25450&z=0&sv=SW341254&st=5&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf The most southerly point is Lizard Point, about further south. Land's End is sometimes reckoned incorrectly as mainland Great Britain's most southwesterly point. This accolade belongs to Gwennap Head, SW365215, which is at least further south than Dr Syntax's Head but only about less west.Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=136650&y=21550&z=0&sv=SW366215&st=5&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf John o' Groats is the traditionally acknowledged extreme northern point of mainland Scotland, in northeastern Caithness, O.S. Grid Reference ND380735, Postcode KW1 4YR. The actual northernmost point is Dunnet Head about further north. The point that is farthest by road from Land's End is Duncansby Head, about east of John o' Groats. Duncansby Head is also the most northeasterly point of the British mainland.Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=340568&y=973320&z=120&sv=340568,973320&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=639&ax=340568&ay=973320&lm=0
The straight-line distance from Land's End to John o' Groats is as determined from O.S. Grid References, but such a route passes over a series of stretches of water in the Irish Sea.
According to a 1964 road atlas, the shortest route using classified roads was but in a 2008 road atlas, the shortest route using classified roads was . An online route planner in 2021 also calculated the quickest route by road as , estimating a time of 14 hours 50 minutes for the journey by car (this uses the A30, M5, M6, A74(M), M74, M73, M80, M9, A9 & A99) but the overall shortest route by road, using minor roads in numerous places and utilising modern bridges, is only about . This route is roughly as follows: Land's End, Bodmin, Okehampton, Tiverton, Taunton, Bridgwater, the M5 Avon Bridge, the M48 Severn Bridge, Monmouth, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Tarporley, St Helens, Preston, Carlisle, Beattock, Carstairs, Whitburn, Falkirk, Stirling, Crieff, Kenmore, Dalchalloch, A9, Inverness, Kessock Bridge, Cromarty Bridge, Dornoch Firth Bridge, Latheron, Wick, John o' Groats.
The walk can be done in either direction. The south-to-north route includes advantages such as tending to go in the direction of the prevailing winds and more temperate weather. However, the north-to-south route avoids the midge season.
History
The brothers John and Robert Naylor from Cheshire are credited with making the first journey from John O'Groats to Land's End in 1871 and are frequently mentioned in walking and cycling guides today. In 1916, some years after his brother's death, John Naylor wrote a book called From John O'Groats to Land's End. It has been suggested that they were influenced by two books by the American consul in Birmingham, Elihu Burritt: A walk from London to Land's End and back (1864) and A Walk from London to John O'Groat's (1865).
In the introduction to their book the Naylors wrote:
Methods There are many ways to go from Land's End to John o' Groats. Traditionally considered to be a walk, the route is now traversed in a number of ways, with cycling and multi-modal expeditions being particularly popular in recent years.
Most trips are done by individuals or small groups for personal fulfilment. Some expeditions are organised as charity fundraisers, sometimes involving celebrities: examples include cricketer Ian Botham's 1985 walk and athlete Jane Tomlinson in 2003. In recent history the route has been used as a rite of passage by cyclists taking on the most iconic cycling challenge in Britain.
Walking The first recorded end-to-end walk (actually from John o' Groats to Land's End) was undertaken by the brothers John and Robert Naylor in 1871. Since then the walk has been undertaken many times, more particularly since 1960, after a well-publicised road walk by Dr Barbara Moore. In 1960 the entrepreneur Billy Butlin organised a road walking race, which gave further impetus to the idea.
Since the 1960s, walkers have mostly chosen off-road routes, using the growing network of long-distance footpaths. A classic account is from 1966 by the travel writer John Hillaby.Hillaby, J. (1966) Journey Through Britain Republished by Constable in 1995 Off-road walkers usually complete the journey in two to three months. There is a considerable choice of off-road routes, but all are much longer than the shortest road distance, usually or more. The walk is still undertaken by road walkers, often doing the walk, like Sir Ian Botham, for charity, or as a "challenge walk". They typically take a month or even less.
Some walkers aim to complete the route piecemeal, perhaps over several years, to achieve the walk within the time constraints of a working life and before the possible health problems of old age. One example of this was completed by Malcolm Wylie, when he walked north to south along the British watershed (without crossing flowing water) between 1996 and 2009, and documented it in his book; this route is much longer, at 1800 miles, as it winds between the tributaries of the rivers.
Routes There is no continuous long-distance path from Land's End to John o' Groats. There are long-distance paths for substantial sections of the route, and where they do not exist walkers connect them by rights of way and minor roads. Most walkers broadly follow these routes: from Land's End to Exmoor by the South West Coast Path; or by a shorter inland route through Cornwall and Devon by minor roads and paths, the Two Castles Trail and the towpath of the Grand Western Canal across Somerset by parts of the Macmillan Way West, the Samaritans Way South West or the Limestone Link to the Peak District either by an eastern route using the Cotswold Way, the Heart of England Way (or the Severn Way), the Staffordshire Way and the Limestone Way; or a western route across the Severn Bridge then by the Offa's Dyke Path, the Maelor Way and the South Cheshire Way to the Scottish Borders by the Pennine Way by St. Cuthbert's Way and a section of the Southern Upland Way to the Pentland Hills, then by a western route using the towpaths of the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal, then by the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way to Inverness; or an eastern route across the Forth Road Bridge to Perth and Pitlochry, then by Glen Tilt and the Lairig Ghru to Speyside and the old Wade road to Inverness. from Inverness to John o' Groats, either by the John o' Groats Trail, a mostly coastal long-distance route that is rough but walkable; a route that is mostly on roads with a few stretches of coast walking; or some walkers head north west from the end of the West Highland Way at Fort William using parts of the Cape Wrath Trail, then head northeast through the Flow Country of Caithness. However, this route is through remote country and requires wild camping.
Cycling Official Road Records Association records: Rider on a conventional bicycle: 43 hours, 25 minutes and 13 seconds, set by 40 year old Michael Broadwith on 17 June 2018 Women's: Christina Mackenzie 51 hours, 5 minutes and 27 seconds, 30 July 2021 Mixed tandem: A Wilkinson & L E A Taylor (Lynne Biddulph), 2000, 51h 19m 23s Men's tandem: 5–7 May 2015 Riders: Dominic Irvine and Charlie Mitchell. Time: 45 hours, 11 minutes The previous record held for 49 years.
The record for cycling from Land's End to John o' Groats is held by Andy Wilkinson, who completed the journey in 41 hours, 4 minutes and 22 seconds on a Windcheetah recumbent tricycle in 1990 (the Road Records Association does not recognise journeys on recumbents). A typical cycling time when not attempting shortest time is 10 to 14 days. From 1 to 4 March 2010, David Walliams, Jimmy Carr, Fearne Cotton, Miranda Hart, Patrick Kielty, Davina McCall and Russell Howard cycled in a team relay from John o' Groats to Land's End to raise money for Sport Relief.
Canadian Sarah Ruggins cycled from John O'Groats to Land End and back in 5 days, 11 hours and 14 minutes in May 2025. This was 6h 49m faster than the previous allcomers' return record set by James MacDonald, and five days faster than the previous women's return record held by Louise Harris.
The first tricyclist to complete the route was Alfred Nixon, champion of the London Tricycle Club, who in 1882 made "the first, and at present only, tricycle journey from John o' Groats to Land's End, a distance of 1007 miles, in a fortnight".Lincolnshire Chronicle 25 September 1883 p4. The current Road Records Association record on a non-recumbent tricycle is two days, 5 hours and 29 minutes ridden by Ralph Dadswell in 1992.
Men's quadricycle. In the summer of 2012. Riders: Hugo Catchpole, George Unwin, Tom Bethell and Richard Nicholls. Time 10 days 15 hours. On a four-man recumbent bike weighing 114 kg.
Several cyclists have completed the route on folding bicycles. The fastest completion of LEJOG on a 16-inch wheel Brompton bicycle is currently that of James Stannard who completed the route in a time of 83 hours (3 days 11 hours) in July 2022.
There have been several unicycle completions of the journey. The Guinness World Record for the fastest completion by unicycle is held by Roger Davies and Sam Wakeling, who rode (Land's End to John o' Groats) from 12 to 18 September 2009 in 6 days, 8 hours and 43 minutes. They rode large unicycles equipped with two-speed Schlumpf geared hubs.Event blog with details of the trip and certificates from LEJOG Association , Redwelly.co.uk
The record for riding from Land's End to John o' Groats on a penny-farthing had not been broken since 1886, when Victorian cyclist George Pilkington Mills set it with a time of five days and one hour. Richard Thoday broke the then 133-year-old record on 24 July 2019 by completing his ride in four days, eleven hours and fifty-two minutes. He averaged around 200 miles a day. He had undertaken the challenge to help raise £10,000 for the charity BBC Children in Need.
The oldest person to cycle from Land's End to John o' Groats is Peter Langford (UK, b. 19 August 1933) who was aged 90 years and 33 days when he completed the journey on 21 September 2023. Langford started his journey from Land's End on 22 August 2023.
In 2017 Amelia Sampson aged 22 months completed John o' Groats to Land's End in 14 days in her trailer towed by her parents riding a tandem.
At the age of 4 years and 4 months, Rhoda Jones is believed to have become the youngest to cycle Land's End – John o' Groats on 2 September 2018. Cycling on a trailerbike with her parents Katie and Tom Jones she completed the ride in 22 days, 3 hours, 26 minutes. Her sister Ruth Jones, aged 5, completed the journey before her and became the fastest on a trailerbike.
On 3 August 2018, Joshua Moisey, aged 7 years and 2 months, became the youngest Land's End – John o' Groats cyclist on a standard bicycle, riding his own bike alongside brother Reuben (10) and parents Alvin and Hiroko, and raising money for Alzheimer's Society.