It is on the River Severn which regularly bursts its banks, flooding many houses and commercial premises. The bridge over the Severn at Bewdley was built in 1798 by Thomas Telford.

Bewdley is the site of a well-known privately owned zoo, the West Midlands Safari Park, and is also one of the stations along the Severn Valley Railway.

UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was born in Bewdley, served as MP for the town for nearly thirty years and later became Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.