It stretches down from the Lieser River, a tributary of the Drava, up to the Nock Mountains, part of the Gurktal Alps range.

The village of Innerkrems is the starting point of the scenic Nockalm Road to Reichenau, in the north the Schönfeldsattel Pass leads to Thomatal (Bundschuh) in Salzburg.

The mountainous region is a popular winter sport destination, including several ski slopes and platter lifts.

The Krems municipality is subdivided into seven cadastral communities: Eisentratten, Kremsbrücke, Leoben, Nöring, Puchreit, Reitern, and Sankt Nikolai.

From the 14th century onwards, Krems was an iron ore (Eisenerz) mining area, with a medieval hammer mill at Eisentratten.