The municipal holiday is 15 September, which marks the date in 1860 when King Pedro V of Portugal officially recognised Setúbal as a city.

The city of Setúbal is located on the northern bank of the Sado River estuary, approximately 48 kilometres (30 miles) south of Portugal's capital, Lisbon.

Tourism, based on the beautiful natural conditions plus excellent hotels, resorts and infrastructures, is one of the city's most appreciated resources, due to its interconnection with the Sado (river) on one side and Atlantic Ocean on another, having a coast line with both.

Across the river on the south bank lies the peninsula of Tróia, a place with vast white/golden sand beaches where several luxury hotels and resorts were recently built.

The main historical monument of the city of Setúbal is the Monastery of Jesus, which is a 15th- and 16th-century church that represents one of the first buildings in the Portuguese late Gothic style known as Manueline.

Administratively, the municipality is divided into five civil parishes (freguesias):[9] Setúbal has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with mild, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers.

There are also two stations used for the transport of goods, Setúbal-Mar and Praias do Sado, the latter having its passenger service suspended in 2009 In the past, in the municipality, there were also the halts of Cachofarra, Mouriscas-Sado and Algeruz, serving the villages with the same name.

These halts were used by regional trains going to Faro or Beja Bus services have been secured since June 1st 2022 by Alsa Todi under Carris Metropolitana.

FlixBus, Rede Nacional de Expressos and BlaBlaCar Bus, the latter still stopping at the old terminal In terms of road infrastructure, Setúbal is served by highway A12, to Lisbon and national roads N10, N10-4 and N10-8 The city's main sports club is Vitória de Setúbal, the football club established on 20 November 1910.