The civil parish of Newbury consists of the town, and the suburbs of Wash Common, the City, West Fields, East Fields and Speenhamland. The modern conurbation of Newbury, however, also takes in the surrounding villages of Speen, Donnington, Shaw & Greenham.

Today, Newbury town has a population of about 32,000 (2004) and, with adjacent towns such as Thatcham, is the centre of a continuously built up area with an overall population of around 60,000. Newbury serves as the major commercial and retail centre of West Berkshire.

The River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal flow through the centre of the town, while the River Lambourn partly forms its northern boundary and the River Enborne forms its southern boundary (and also the county boundary with Hampshire). (Strictly, the word "bourne/bourn/born" is synonymous with "river" and it is repetitive to use the two terms together.) Adjoining the town's south-eastern border is Greenham Common and the famous racecourse. Newbury is surrounded on three sides (north, west and south) by the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The downland to the south rises steeply out of the river valley providing scenic views, including Watership Down (made famous by the novel of the same name), Beacon Hill and Combe Gibbet.

Newbury is situated on the River Kennet, the valley of which has always formed an important east–west transport route, served by the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the Great Western Railway line from London to the West Country. Today, Newbury is served by two railway stations, Newbury and Newbury Racecourse, which both lie on the Reading to Plymouth Line.

Following a similar east–west route is the A4 road from London to Bristol, historically the main route west from London. This road has been superseded as a long distance route by the M4 motorway which here runs parallel three miles to the north. The Newbury junction, at Chieveley, is Junction 13.

At Newbury this east–west route is crossed by an equally important north–south route, from the major south coast port of Southampton to the industrial centres of the Midlands. Although this route was once served by the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton railway line, today it is only served by the A34 road, which now bypasses Newbury to the west on an alignment partially using the old rail route (see also 'Newbury Bypass' below).

Until the completion of the bypass, the A34 and A4 met in the town centre at Robin Hood Roundabout, a complicated gyratory system encompassing 6 approaching roads, a fire station, ambulance station, and an exit on the internal (right-hand) side of the roundabout which has to fly-over the roundabout as it heads away to the north. In 2007, the sculpture Couple in Conversation was unveiled on the roundabout, providing a new landmark for one of the major gateways into the town.

Other significant roads radiating from Newbury include the A339 which now includes the renumbered part of the old A34 through the town centre and then heads towards Basingstoke and the M3 motorway, the A343 to Andover, the B4000 to Lambourn, the B4494 to Wantage and the B4009 to Streatley.

Most local bus services are provided by Newbury Buses, a division of Reading Transport Ltd.