The town lies approximately 170 kilometres (110 mi), by road, south of Mutare, the nearest large city.

The local farmers grow tea, coffee, macadamia nuts and rear dairy cattle.

One of Zimbabwe's most famous landmarks, the Birchenough Bridge is located on the Sabi River about 50 kilometres (31 mi), northwest of Chipinge.

A white settlement began here with the arrival of Thomas Moodie's trek in 1893 and was called South Melsetter.

The area around Chipinge was the first place to grow tea in Zimbabwe, when Grafton and Florence Phillips smuggled seeds from Assam in British India in 1924, while coffee was introduced on a small scale but was not successful until 1950 when a coffee experimental station was established.