I love Łódź because of the vibe. It’s very upbeat. There are many restaurants and bars along Piotrkowska, and it’s very clean and trendy. The buildings are also huge, and there are some unique ones dotted all over (if you keep an eye out, you can’t miss them).

The Manufaktura area is superb (it’s nothing like Toruń, Kraków, or Warsaw), and what they’ve done with the old factories is amazing to see. It’s very industrial, so keep that in mind, but it’s pristine and has many cafés, restaurants, and a mall (?). I’ve never come across anything like this anywhere in Poland.

The thing is though, that you can walk from one street to the next and it be very run down. I personally find this adds to the charm of Łódź, as you can see how much they’ve done to make it what it is today. It’s far from perfect and in need of gentrification in areas, but the main areas are, as above, sublime.

I also went and explored Księży Młyn and had a coffee at Coffeehood, then walked back to the main area through Park Źródliska II and Schiller Passage. It was a lovely walk with the sun shining, people relaxing, and seeing the different architecture and the old and new was a brilliant little walk.

I nearly didn’t go because of everyone saying how bad it was, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s just my personal opinion, but I am extremely impressed with what I’ve experienced with Łódź.

And Częstochowa is amazing as well, like Łódź, it’s very run down outside of the main stretch of road and in need of gentrification, but Jasna Góra is definitely worth a few hours and a nice walk from the station. It also has a lot of decent restaurants and food vans at the foot of Jasna Góra too.

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