The basin lies between the Central and Eastern Ore Mountains to the north and the Rakovnik Highlands (Rakovnická pahorkatina) to the south. To the east the basin borders on the Central Bohemian Uplands and the foothills of Bohemian Switzerland as well as in the southeast on the landscape unit of the Lower Eger Table (Czech: Dolnooharská tabule, German: Untereger-Tafel). In the west it reaches the Doupov Mountains.