Berkshire is a county of contrasts; urban and industrial sprawls lie close to picture postcard villages and tranquil waterways, flat plains border rolling hills. The modern face of Royal Berkshire is somewhat removed from its time as the playground of kings!

The principal reason for this rapid change in character is that it lies on two lines of communication – initially the River Thames and more recently the M4. The Thames enters the county around Streatley and winds its way through Reading, Henley, Maidenhead and Windsor. The M4 has inspired a host of new businesses to spring up along its route and encouraged development ever westwards; it is the UK's own Silicon Valley. There is, however, still a clear distinction between the east and west of the county.

In east Berkshire, choosing the right area is often the biggest hurdle. Areas such as Slough, Bracknell and Staines are the obvious ones to avoid. There are also, however, parts of areas such as Windsor, Virginia Water and Sunninghill which should be avoided if you want nice views and peace and quiet.

Much of this area between the M3 and M4 surrounds the vast Windsor Great Park Estate, some 13,000 acres. Just on its edge, the village of Englefield Green provides a suburban interpretation of English life. Moving further south, Ascot, Sunningdale and Sunninghill are much more suburban with some residential roads where many smaller houses – built at the beginning of the twentieth century – are now being knocked down and replaced by larger, often technologically advanced, homes.

To the west of the area, Winkfield, Holyport, Paley Street and Warfield provide more open countryside but as you move closer to the M4 some of the villages tend to be affected by varying degrees of road noise. Planes from Heathrow can also be a problem.

Most of west Berkshire is within 75 minutes of London. It remains one of the most popular areas for the country house market as much of it is extremely pretty and within a comfortable commute of London.

In the north, the Berkshire Downs stretch as far as the Ridgeway, which marks the border between Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Lambourn, which is the second largest racehorse-training centre in the UK, is based here. There are only a few villages dispersed amongst the wide open spaces of the downs meaning fewer country houses come to the market here than elsewhere in the county.

The M4 dissects the Downs and the rest of the county from east to west. The noise affects a wide area either side and can pull down house prices.

South of the M4 and around Hungerford, the countryside remains extremely attractive although not as exposed as the Downs. This area has the benefit of having easy access east and west yet, at the same time, is rural.

East of Newbury there are many developments dotted along the A4 towards Reading. Small towns such as Thatcham and Theale are growing with new business parks and industrial sites. The visual and audible impact these have had on the area has blighted prices in this pocket of West Berkshire.

Finally, moving north to Goring and Pangbourne, which are both attractive market towns, there are many villages popular with commuters due to their proximity to Reading and Newbury. Trains from Reading to Paddington take approximately 25 minutes. Land here is, predominantly, pretty wooded valleys, and it has remained as such, due to management policies of local estates. As much of the area is in the ownership of these estates, it is rare that properties with large acreages come on to the market.

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