The CR postcode area covers most of the south and centre of the London Borough of Croydon while the other parts in the north are covered by SW and SE postcodes include the areas of South Norwood and Selhurst, Upper Norwood, West Norwood, and Norbury and Streatham.

Districts in the London Borough of Croydon include Addington, a small village to the east of Croydon which until 2000 was poorly linked to the rest of the borough as it was without any railway or light rail stations with only a few patchy bus services to rely on. Addiscombe is a town just northeast of the centre of Croydon, and is popular with commuters to Central London due to its close proximity to the busy East Croydon station. Ashburton, to the northeast of Croydon, is mostly home to residential houses and flats, being named after Ashburton House, one of the three big houses in the Addiscombe area. Broad Green is a small district, centred on a large green with many homes and local shops in West Croydon. Coombe is an area, just east of Croydon, which has barely been urbanised and has retained its collection of large houses fairly intact. Coulsdon, southwest of Central Croydon, which has retained a good mix of traditional high street shops as well as a large number of restaurants for its size. Croydon is the principal area of the borough, Crystal Palace is an area north of Croydon, which is shared with the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Bromley. Fairfield, just northeast of Croydon, holds the Fairfield Halls and the village of Forestdale, to the east of Croydon’s main area, commenced work in the late 1960s and completed in the mid-70s to create a larger town on what was previously open ground. Hamsey Green is a place on the plateau of the North Downs, south of Croydon. Kenley, again south of the centre, lie within the London Green Belt and features a landscape dominated by green space. New Addington, to the east, is a large local authority estate surrounded by open countryside and golf courses. Norbury, to the northwest, is a suburb with a large ethnic population. Norwood New Town is a part of the Norwood triangle, to the north of Croydon. Monks Orchard is a small district made up of large houses and open space in the northeast of the borough. Pollards Hill is a residential district with houses on roads, which are lined with pollarded lime trees, stretching to Norbury. Purley, to the south, is a main town whose name derives from “pirlea”, which means ‘Peartree lea’. Sanderstead, to the south, is a village mainly on high ground at the edge of suburban development in Greater London. Selhurst is a town, to the north of Croydon. Selsdon is a suburb which was developed during the inter-war period in the 1920s and 1930s, and is remarkable for its many Art Deco houses, to the southeast of Croydon Centre. Shirley, is to the east of Croydon, and holds Shirley Windmill. South Croydon, to the south of Croydon, is a locality which holds local landmarks such as The Swan and Sugarloaf public house and independent Whitgift School part of the Whitgift Foundation. South Norwood, to the north, is in common with West Norwood and Upper Norwood, named after a contraction of Great North Wood and has a population of around 14,590. Thornton Heath is a town, to the northwest of Croydon, which holds Croydon’s principal hospital Mayday. Upper Norwood is, west to Croydon, on a mainly elevated area of the borough. Waddon is a residential area, mainly based on the Purley Way retail area, to the west of the borough. West Croydon is west of Croydon and Woodside is located to the northeast of the borough, with streets based around Woodside Green, a small sized area of green land. And finally Whyteleafe is a town, right to the edge of Croydon with some areas in the Surrey district of Tandridge.

Croydon is a gateway to the south from Central London, and therefore has a number of major roads running through it. Purley Way on the A23 road was built to by-pass Croydon town centre on which the A23 once did, is one of the busiest roads in the borough, and has been the site of several major retail developments including one of only 17 IKEA stores in the United Kingdom. It carries on to Brighton Road which is the main route running towards the south from Croydon to Purley and continues on the A23. The centre of Croydon is very congested, and the urban planning has since become out of date and quite inadequate, due to the expansion of Croydon’s main shopping area and office blocks. Wellesley Road, is a dual carriageway that cuts through the centre of the town, and makes it hard to interchange between the civic centre’s two railway stations. Croydon Vision 2020 includes a plan for a more pedestrian-friendly replacement. It has also been named as one of the worst roads for cyclists in the area. Construction of the Croydon Underpass beneath the junction of George Street and Wellesley Road/Park Lane during the early Sixties started, with the main aim to prevent traffic congestion on Park Lane, situated above the underpass. The Croydon Flyover on the other hand is situated near the underpass and next to Taberner House. It mainly leads traffic on to Duppas Hill, towards Purley Way with the intention for easy links with Sutton and Kingston upon Thames further afield. The major junction on the flyover is for Old Town, which is also a large three-lane road.