The village drops from the edge of the Cotswold Hills, overlooked by Frocester Hill and Coaley Peak picnic site, towards the River Cam at Cam and Cambridge and the Severn Estuary beyond.

Coaley has many amenities, including a 300-year-old pub, the Old Fox (was The Fox and Hounds until November 2018 [2]), awarded the Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards Pub of The Year 2022,[3] the Coaley C of E Primary School, a church, a village hall, and a community shop, recently re-opened in a new building, with coffee shop facilities.

Coaley also holds an annual produce show, which has been held since 1942 on the first Saturday in September.

In 2003, Coaley was crowned Gloucestershire village of the year in a Calor-sponsored competition organised by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council, and went on to pick up a runner-up prize in the national competition, in recognition of local residents' efforts to develop community organisations and enterprises.

Local legend has it that one of the original script writers of The Archers, Geoffrey Webb, drank regularly in the (now closed) Swan Public House in the village, and his experiences helped inspire the long-running radio serial.