The village is 9 miles to the east of Penrith, which is a thriving community with immediate access to Junction 40 of the M6 motorway and a main-line railway station serving London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Surrounded by verdant countryside, Melmerby sits between the North Pennines with its highest point Cross Fell to the east, and the World Heritage Lake District National Park 10 miles to the west.

The River Eden is bridged about 4 miles (6.4 km) away at Langwathby, and Long Meg and Her Daughters, the 3,500-year-old stone circle – the second largest in the country – is nearby at Little Salkeld.

The most significant historic buildings surviving in the village today are the 13th-century church of St John the Baptist and the Grade II Listed Melmerby Hall, begun as a defensive structure in the early 14th century.

The A686 road passes through the village, and was described in AA Magazine by travel journalist Phil Llewellin: Melmerby Fell is a prominent feature of the area.