Lodz

Łódź was Poland’s Manchester — a 19th-century textile boomtown of redbrick factories, grand industrialist palaces, and worker housing that stretched for kilometers. When the industry collapsed, the city reinvented itself with a creativity born of necessity. Manufaktura, a massive factory complex converted into a cultural and commercial center, anchors the transformation. EC1, a former power station, now houses a science center and planetarium. The factories that once produced cotton now produce art, film, and ideas.

Piotrkowska Street, one of the longest commercial streets in Europe, runs four kilometers through the city center — lined with restaurants, bars, street art, and architectural details that reward slow walking. Łódź’s film school alumni include Polanski, Wajda, and Kieślowski, and the city’s connection to cinema remains strong through the museum in Karol Scheibler’s palace. The street art scene is among Europe’s best — enormous murals cover entire building facades, turning the city into an open-air gallery. This is urban Poland at its most honest and energetic.

When to go: May through September for outdoor murals and rooftop bars. The Łódź Design Festival in October showcases the city’s creative identity.