Santa Fe is the capital city of the eponymous province in Argentina; its population is about 600.000 people.
Santa Fe is a small firepot of cultural activity. On a bi-annual basis, the National University (Universidad Nacional del Litoral) hosts a week long music and arts festival which is very well known and appreciated among the youth. Other week-long events are hosted around the year, specially in theater, poetry, dances and choirs. It's really astonishing the amount of cultural events happening on a daily basis for such a small town. The local rock music scene is quite restless also, despite the scarcity of stages. It is also very rich as it spans almost any sub-genre of the rock music, from completely ethnical (or Folclore-like rock music) to heavy and even trendy or experimental and "peñas folkclóricas" are a must if you come across one, they are basically one of the truest form of local culture: empanadas and wine, music (Zambas, Chacareras, Gatos, Cielitos, Pericón, etc.) and dancing. Standard package of museums is to be found as in any major city: Rosa Galisteo, Etnográfico are the 2 biggest, both in the southern area.
As almost everywhere in Argentina, grilled meat or barbeque (also known as "asado") is a must; always joined with assorted salads and red wine. The local specialty must be the fish, caught fresh from the surrounding rivers. There's a large number of species in the area but due to depredation issues, only a few seem to be available in a given season. It's specially good the "chupín", a sort of soup of fish with potatoes and tomatoes, do try it! Otherwise, the Italian and Spanish roots among the locals take special place in the menu of every restaurant, with minor additions of almost every European culture (from Greek to Armenian and French to German). Hindu and Japanese dishes are actually very hard to find, if at all.
Beer (cerveza) is considered the most popular drink in the area. In fact, the city has one of the biggest brewers in the country (chilenean owned Cervecerías Unidas) producing the Santa Fe, Schneider, Budweiser and Heineken brands. Allegedly, the local brewer produces a over million liters daily and a good portion of that production is consumed within the city. One of the best ways of enjoy such goods is out of a straight glass (called "liso") while sitting at a table in any of the many bars in the city, preferably outdoors in the hot days of January and February. Locals prefer to have the beer cold (within 0ºC and 5ºC).
At the bus terminal there is a free wireless Internet connection at the restaurant. This kind of services is to be found commonly in many restaurants and coffee houses. Local Energy Network is 220 V so many appliances brought from Europe might work. Appliances brought from USA won't. Check before plugging in.
There are direct buses to Paraná (Entre Ríos), Córdoba, Posadas (Misiones), Corrientes, Resistencia (Chaco) and many other provincial capitals, as well as to other interesting cities in the province like Rafaela, Esperanza, San Carlos, San Javier, San Justo.