Łódź walking tour & city guide

Piotrkowska Street

Piotrkowska, one of the longest commercial streets in Europe, is lined with grand buildings, cafés and bars. OFF Piotrkowska is a creative quarter in an old cotton mill.

Factories and murals

Manufaktura, a huge former factory complex, has shops, restaurants and museums. The city has hundreds of large murals, and the Poznański Palace was the home of a textile magnate.

A day in Łódź

Walk the length of Piotrkowska Street, one of the longest commercial streets in Europe, with Art Nouveau facades, courtyards and restaurants. Look out for the bronze statues of famous residents along the way.

Visit Manufaktura, a huge 19th-century textile factory turned into a shopping and cultural center, and the Księży Młyn workers' housing estate.

Good to know

Łódź grew from a village into an industrial giant in the 19th century, and its factories and palaces of textile barons are unique in Poland. The city has many large murals.

It is the home of Poland's famous film school, alma mater of directors like Roman Polański and Andrzej Wajda.

Why it surprises visitors

Łódź was once called the 'Polish Manchester', and its rise in the 19th century attracted Polish, German, Jewish and Russian industrialists who built grand palaces next to their factories. Izrael Poznański's palace, now a city museum, is one of the most lavish. The OFF Piotrkowska complex, in a former cotton mill, is full of bars, design shops and restaurants.

Today, the city is reinventing itself with art, design and festivals. The Light Move Festival projects light shows onto buildings, and the Museum of Art, one of the oldest modern art museums in the world, has an excellent collection.