The countryside around Caterham is the best thing about living here. There's a park or green space within a short walk of almost every home. The North Downs Way runs close to the south of town. Most homes have a proper garden of their own. The town is a base for getting out, and the hills are why people move here.
Green space is close almost everywhere. The average home is about 180 metres from the nearest park or green space, and has about 17 within a kilometre. That makes a walk after work easy wherever in town you live.
Water is harder to find. The nearest river, lake or pond is about 1.7 kilometres away on average, and there's usually nothing within a kilometre. That's what a dry chalk valley means.
The nearest route on the National Cycle Network is about 1.6 kilometres away on average, and only about 3% of postcodes are close to one. There's no ancient woodland recorded in the area. Most of the good walking is on the Downs rather than in old forest.
The wider area's property data lists 789 shops, 52 pubs and 24 restaurants. That's a big count of shops and pubs for a relatively small number of restaurants.
Fine-particle air pollution across Tandridge, the council area, averaged about 7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024. That's a figure for the whole council area, not for Caterham itself.
The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about 1% of the area, along its southern edge. No site of special scientific interest overlaps the town, and there's no ancient woodland. Almost none of the town is protected landscape. The protected countryside starts where the town ends.
The countryside around the town has plenty to explore. The North Downs Way can be reached from Harestone Valley Road or Tupwood Lane. The Cardinal's Cap, an Iron Age hillfort, sits on White Hill. Fosterdown, also called Pilgrims' Fort, was built as part of London's defences on the ridge above Godstone Hill. Whitehill Tower, a folly put up by a local landowner in 1862, stands beside War Coppice Road. Just outside the town are the villages of Woldingham, Chaldon and Godstone, and the conservation area at Kenley Aerodrome.
Homes here have good-sized gardens. There are about 176,000 square metres of private garden for every 1,000 residents. That's space for a proper lawn and a shed, not a patio with a few pots.
The business rates list shows 561 business premises in the town itself. There are 251 shops and 104 offices, with car parks, workshops and other uses making up the rest. These are premises on the rating list, and some may be empty. The high street is mostly shops and offices, with little else.
Of the 132 food premises with a hygiene rating, about 91% have the top score of five, and about 2% are rated low. In most of the places you eat here, the kitchen is well run.
Few towns this close to London have countryside so close to the back door, and it's one of Caterham's real strengths.