The Top 10 Things To See And Do In D Poland

Having historically been an industrial city, Łódź is mostly shunned by tourists in favor of the more popular Polish cities, Krakow, Warsaw or Wroclaw. There are, however, many fascinating and beautiful things to see in the city, whether you prefer shopping, visiting parks or learning more about the city’s history. Here is our selection of the 10 best places to visit in Łódź.

1. Herbst Palace and Museum

Museum

This large mansion is situated next to a lovely little lake. It was built by the city’s biggest industrial families, the Scheiblers and the Herbsts, in the 19th century. It can be found adjacent to the industrial settlement Księży Młyn, which was a housing complex for the people working for the Scheibler family in their spinning and weaving mills. You can still visit this fascinating area. The palace has been entirely restored to its original state. It is now owned by Łódź’s Museum of Modern Art and houses the Old Masters Gallery which exhibits Polish and European artists from that era.

2. Museum of Modern Art

Museum

Łódź’s Musuem of Modern Art (or Muzeum Sztuki in Polish) is one of the oldest museums of Modern Art in the world and holds the largest collection of world art from the 20th and 21st centuries in Poland. It was founded by the a.r. group in the 1920s, a Polish avant-garde group of artists. Many exceptional artists, such as Max Ernst and Hans Arp, contributed works to the collection. It includes artwork from different streams of Modern Art like cubism, purism, constructivism and neoplasticism. Today the collection is divided into four groups with the themes: ‘body, trauma, prosthesis’, ‘construction, utopia, politicization’, ‘eye, image, reality’ and ‘object, fetish, phantasm’. This is a jewel of a museum.

3. Mickiewicza Park

Park

There are plenty of wonderful parks in Łódź in which to walk your dog, sunbathe or have a picnic. If you have time, try to visit all of them. If you have to pick, try Mickiewicza Park. It is not too far from the city center and it boasts a large lake with an island and parkland area. You can spot many birds nesting here and the ducks will happily accept any bread on offer. There is a large amphitheater where you’ll occasionally happen upon concerts or plays during the summer. The park is also lovely in Spring when all the flowers are blooming.

Piotrkowska Street

Piotkowska Street is the heart of Łódź, measuring five kilometers in length which makes it one of the longest commercial streets in the world. It stretches between Independence Square (Plac Niepodleglości) and Liberty Square (Plac Wolności), and along the street you can find the city’s best restaurants, bars and shops. This street also houses Łódź’s Museum of the Textile Industry as well as several wonderful, life-size statues of famous Łódź figures such as those of Julian Tuwin, a poet, and Arthur Rubenstein, a classical pianist.