The county contains the city of Varaždin, the towns of: Ivanec, Ludbreg, Lepoglava, Novi Marof and Varaždinske Toplice, as well as 22 municipalities.

It covers an area of 1,262 square kilometres (487 sq mi) and had a population of 175,951 in the 2011 census.

The highway A4 (part of Pan-European Corridor Vb and European route E65) passes through the county, connecting the Hungarian border (in the north) with Zagreb (in the south), and which has exits in Varaždin, Varaždinske Toplice and Novi Marof.

In the longitudinal (east-west) direction, a magistral road passes along the Drava river, spanning from Maribor (Slovenia) to Osijek.

Railways (not yet modernised) passing through the county lead to Zagreb in the south, Čakovec and Budapest (Hungary) in the north and Koprivnica in the east.