Thurnby village proper is set to the south of the A47, just after it leaves the city. A sister village, Bushby lies just to the east and merges into it such that the two have made one civil parish, Thurnby and Bushby (where the population is listed), having been combined since 1935. To the west is Evington and Thurnby Lodge in Leicester proper, to the north is Scraptoft and to the south and east are open countryside - the next villages in these directions are Stoughton and Houghton on the Hill.