Birstall is a large village, north of Leicester in the East Midlands or England. It lies on the A6 and is the last major settlement before Leicester when heading from the North.

The village centre lies just off the A6, along Sibson Road. There is a supermarket, a garden centre and various other shops. There are various schools, including Riverside Primary School, Stonehill High, and Longslade Community College .

There is a large housing estate to the North-West of the village, towards Beaumont Leys , and a golf course beyond that.

The Grand Union Canal runs through the bottom end of the village, separating it from Watermead Park , a series of lakes in the bottom of the Soar Valley, which have been set aside as a recreational area and country park.

The Great Central Railway steam railway has its southern terminus near the village, where the A6 meets the Leicester outer ringroad at Red Hill Circle.

To the north of the village, the A6 meets the A46 Leicester Western Bypass and then continues on towards Loughborough along the Soar Valley, and so on to the North of England.