The countryside around Amersham is green and close at hand, and it is well looked after. Most front doors are a short walk from a park. Two chalk river valleys meet at the town. The Chilterns begin at its edge. The town sits in very well-kept countryside.
On average, an Amersham home is about 250 metres from the nearest public green space, with about 10 within a kilometre. Between the parks, the playing fields and the open land around Old Amersham, most families can walk the dog without getting in the car.
Water is close too. The average home is about 480 metres from a river, stream or pond, with about 12 within a kilometre. Old Amersham is on the valley floor of the River Misbourne, and Amersham-on-the-Hill is on the plateau between the Misbourne and the River Chess. Geologists call the Misbourne a misfit stream, because it is far too small for the valley it runs through, which makes it the one thing in Amersham that doesn't fit in.
The nearest stretch of the National Cycle Network is about 3.2 kilometres away on average, and no part of the town is close to it. There is no ancient woodland inside the area. Cycling out of town means sharing the roads with the commuter traffic.
Buckinghamshire's average for fine-particle air pollution was about 7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024. That is a county-wide figure, so it covers busy main roads as well as the open hills.
The Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty overlaps about 2% of the area, along the edges. There is no site of special scientific interest. The town's own land is ordinary countryside and suburb, with the protected hills starting where it ends.
The villages nearby are the main draw. Hyde Heath and Winchmore Hill are out in the fields, Little Missenden and Coleshill each have their own conservation areas, and Chenies and Latimer, with Latimer Park, are a short drive along the Chess. Shardeloes Park sits on the edge of Old Amersham. Each of these villages is small, and each has its own conservation rules, so even the views here are protected.
Private gardens are generous. Across Amersham's 13 neighbourhoods there are about 196,000 square metres of garden for every 1,000 residents. That comes from the town's mix of detached and semi-detached houses on decent plots. In Amersham a garden comes with most houses as standard.
Business premises are mostly offices and shops. The valuation list holds 657 rateable business premises, led by 202 offices and 194 shops, with 54 workshops and other smaller groups. Separate counts of rated premises put pubs at 40 and restaurants at 20. These are premises on the rating list, so some may have changed hands or closed. Halma has its headquarters in Old Amersham, which is why the offices outnumber the shops.
Eating out is generally safe. Of the 131 food premises rated for hygiene, about 70% hold the top score of five and about 2% are at the bottom.
The area around Amersham is one of its real strengths: parks a few minutes away, rivers close by, the Chilterns on the doorstep and big gardens. Anyone who likes walking out of the back gate into the countryside will be well served here.