Łódź — Travelrags

The GuardianSep 5, 2026

A city break in Łódź, Poland’s capital of cinema and factories

The imposing red-brick mills of its industrial past are a stunning example of urban regeneration in the former ‘city of a thousand chimneys’ Sometimes travel delivers a real shock. I’m moving along the boulevards in the Polish city of Łódź, enjoying the excellent cafes and warm sunshine, when I spot the vans. They are parked up on the verge, with racks of clothing and heavily laden tables behin…

9 things in this story

Piotrkowska StreetNeighborhoodlongest shopping street in Europe, about 2½ miles
Plac WolnościNeighborhooddance festival in progress
Pasaż RóżySightstreet covered in mirrors by artist Joanna Rajkowska
OFF PiotrkowskaNeighborhoodcomplex of old textile mills reborn as small businesses
Pan Tu Nie StałRestaurantshop selling T-shirts with Soviet combine harvesters
ManufakturaNeighborhoodrestored textile mill buildings with restaurants, bars, shops
Museum of the FactoryMuseumhouses a collection of working looms from the 1880s
Museum of CinematographyMuseumfeatures equipment to props from Oscar triumphs
Central Museum of TextilesMuseumtechnician starts up a 1893 Greenwood loom

Read the full piece at The Guardian →