Popular activities among young people include drinking mate (an herbal beverage), going dancing at night and crossing into Argentina to go shopping in Concordia on weekends. One of the attractions are the thermal pools located close to the city. They are kept at over 38 °C (100 F) around the year. Salto is also known for its street Calle Uruguay, where locals stroll during weekend nights to socialize and drink mate with friends. Despite its many slum areas, Salto is considered one of the higher class areas of Uruguay for its various amenities that most of the country is lacking. The International Cultural Centre was founded in Salto in August 1990. The main football club is Salto Fútbol Club which plays in the Uruguayan Segunda División. Their home ground is located at the Estadio Ernesto Dickinson, which has a capacity of about 6,500.

At the entrance of the city there is a memorial to the engineer Eladio Dieste. The memorial is formally called "La Puerta de la Sabiduría" ("The Door of Wisdom") and commonly known as "La Gaviota" ("The Seagull"). It was constructed by moving a structure built for station facilities and service by Leggiero Barbieri, a now-defunct trading firm. It is located at the intersection of Route 3 and Route 31 with Avenida Pascual Harriague, named after Pascual Harriague, who introduced grape cultivation in Uruguay. Salto is the site of a large number of works by Eladio Dieste, including an industrial warehouse/factory (Refrescos del Norte, 1978), an inn (north coast), a Municipal Bus Terminal, and a private bus company terminal (Turlit, 1980). Other prominent architects include J.P. Sanguinetti with his masterpiece "El Campo y yo".

When someday comes you'll need to get in.

When someday comes you'll need to be able to get around.