Thurlaston village and its surrounding parish lie in the district of Blaby, just over 6 miles to the south-west of Leicester. The parish is relatively large, occupying the area between the A47 and the M69, bordered by the B582 to the north-east and by Watery Gate Lane to the south-west. The village itself is small with a population in 2011 of just 807, a rural community largely surrounded by agricultural land.

The only publicly-accessible wildlife haven within the parish is Normanton Wood, located 2 miles west of the village on Earl Shilton Lane, just before the junction with Thurlaston Lane. This was created by the Woodlands Trust as part of their "Woods on your Doorstep" project in partnership with DIY store Homebase. Everyone is welcome to walk here amongst trees planted in 1999, mainly oak, ash and field maple. The adjacent grassland has been sown with a mixture of meadow grasses and is allowed to grow long before being cut annually after the wild flowers have set seed.

Also to the west of the village, a footpath passes through the rolling parklands of Normanton Hall, overlooking a small tributary of the River Soar and a number of fishing lakes. Several other footpaths traverse the parish, passing mainly through farmland.