You would almost miss them. Almost. Because as soon as you pass the entryway to the St. Servaas Basilica, you’ll figure out that it’s worth walking on. You’ll see for yourself that Maastricht doesn’t end at the Vrijthof. Sometimes you just have to take those few extra steps. That’s when Maastricht will surprise you with just how surprising the city centre really is. The Vrijthof has a number of little streets leading into it from all directions. They include Brusselsestraat, Grote Gracht, and De Kommel. Unlike the more idyllic boulevards in most of the rest of the city, these streets evoke a feeling of the urban, the artistic, the unknown. Here, students and locals come and go: artists, designers, professionals. It’s an area that’s moving fast: new shops, start-ups, young businesses, surprising concepts. Yet at the same time, it’s bursting with historic buildings, and is still very much a place where locals want to live. In truth, you can’t really describe the streets around the Vrijthof in a few words. It’s where local, university, business, authentic, forward-looking, and surprising Maastricht all come together.

The Lake Constance Festival, better known as Bodensee-Festival, annually and under changing topics displays about 80 events at up to 35 venues. The festival sees itself primarily as an interdisciplinary arts event that every year presents orchestral, chamber and organ orchestras, jazz, theatre, dance and literature as essential parts of its unique program.

If you have some time to spare in Chios, check out the town's old historic castle located right next to the town's port. The castle walls encircle a tiny village as well as a restored Ottoman era bath house and an abandoned mosque.

The ancient fort of Za'abal isn't just an attraction but provides bird's eye views of Sakakah city spread out below. From here, travellers will be able to take in the cityscape dominated by low-rise buildings and palm trees, as well as the historic quarter of Al-Dhel’ below.