Things to do in Łódź: what to see in Poland's textile city
Łódź is Poland's fourth-largest city and its great 19th-century boomtown. Textile mills turned a small farming town into the "Polish Manchester": the population grew from about 13,000 in 1840 to more than half a million by 1913. Polish, Jewish and German industrialists built factories, palaces and workers' housing side by side, and many of those red-brick complexes now hold museums, a science centre, lofts and restaurants. Łódź is also home to Poland's famous National Film School and has been a UNESCO City of Film since 2017.
Below you'll find the ten places we'd put on any first-timer's list, a one-day route, a two-day plan, how to get here from Warsaw and the full catalogue of Łódź attractions on tripto.pl. Opening hours and prices are on each attraction page. One thing to plan around: most museums in Łódź close on Mondays, and a few on Tuesdays as well.
Why visit
- It's one of Europe's most complete industrial cities: Manufaktura, Piotrkowska Street and the Księży Młyn mill village are all part of a national Historic Monument.
- You can walk through the mill owners' palaces — the Poznański Palace, Scheibler's palace with the Cinematography Museum and the Herbst Palace.
- The Museum of Art holds one of the world's oldest collections of avant-garde art, assembled in 1929–1932 by the artists of the a.r. group themselves.
- Bad weather is easy here: the EC1 science centre and planetarium, the Orientarium with its underwater tunnel and factory museums keep you indoors all day.
- Several museums are free one day a week — Wednesdays for the Poznański Palace and the Cinematography Museum permanent exhibitions, Fridays for the Museum of Art.
Top 10: what to see first
Our picks for a first visit — each with a short reason why.
Old towns & squares
Piotrkowska Street
Łódź
Piotrkowska Street in Łódź (say pyot-ROOF-ska, and the city is woodge) is the main street of one of Poland's largest cities and one of the longest high streets in Europe: a dead-straight 4.2 km avenue lined with the mansions, banks and hot…
Free entry1. A dead-straight, roughly 4.2 km main street. Walk the northern 2 km from Freedom Square to Piłsudskiego Avenue for courtyards, mill owners' palaces, the Walk of Fame and bronze statues of famous locals.
Technical monuments
Manufaktura in Łódź
Łódź
Manufaktura in Łódź (say "WOODGE") is a vast 19th-century textile factory turned into the city's liveliest destination. Across 27 hectares (67 acres) of red-brick mills built by cotton magnate Izrael Poznański, you'll now find museums, a m…
Free entry2. Izrael Poznański's cotton empire, reborn in 2006 as a shopping, food and culture quarter. Entry to the site is free; the Factory Museum runs its historic looms and has a roof terrace.
Palaces
Izrael Poznański Palace (Museum of the City of Łódź)
Łódź
The Izrael Poznański Palace in Łódź (say "WOODGE") is the grandest factory owner's residence in Poland and the best place to see how a 19th-century textile boomtown made its fortunes. Locals call it the "Louvre of Łódź." Today it houses th…
3. Nicknamed the "Louvre of Łódź": ballroom, painted dining room and a gallery devoted to pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who was born in the city. Permanent exhibitions free on Wednesdays.
Museums
EC1 Łódź – City of Culture (Science Center and Planetarium)
Łódź
EC1 Łódź – City of Culture is a former power station in Łódź (say "WOODGE") reborn as a cluster of museums: Poland's largest science and technology center, a state-of-the-art planetarium, a national exhibition on Polish cinema and a comics…
4. The city's first power station, next to Łódź Fabryczna station: a hands-on science centre in the original control room and turbine halls, plus a planetarium with some shows in English.
Museums
Museum of Art in Łódź (ms1, ms2 and Herbst Palace)
Łódź
The Museum of Art in Łódź (Muzeum Sztuki, say "WOODGE") holds one of the oldest avant-garde art collections in the world and is a must for anyone interested in modern art in Poland. It operates across three branches: ms1 in a neo-Renaissan…
5. Strzemiński, Kobro, Léger, Ernst and Beuys across three branches. If you only have time for one, pick ms2 at Manufaktura. Free entry every Friday, when it stays open until 8 pm.
Technical monuments
Księży Młyn in Łódź
Łódź
Księży Młyn ("Priest's Mill") is the largest historic factory complex in Łódź from the second half of the 19th century: a 207-metre spinning mill, brick workers' houses, a school, a fire station, a hospital and a manufacturer's palace, all…
6. Karl Scheibler's mill village, modelled on English factory towns: rows of red-brick workers' houses, a spinning mill turned into lofts and cobbles that starred in Wajda's "The Promised Land".
Museums
Film Museum in Łódź (Scheibler Palace)
Łódź
The Film Museum in Łódź (say "WOODGE") is the only museum in Poland dedicated to the technology, art and culture of cinema. It occupies the 19th-century palace of textile magnate Karol Scheibler, on the edge of the Księży Młyn industrial e…
7. Poland's only museum of film culture, inside Scheibler's palace: historic projectors, puppets from classic Polish cartoons and an original Kaiser-Panorama. Free on Wednesdays, closed Mon–Tue.
Hidden gemMuseums
Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź
Łódź
The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź (say: WOODGE) is Europe's largest museum devoted to textiles, fashion and the textile industry. It occupies the White Factory, a grand 19th-century cotton mill built by industrialist Ludwik Geyer at 2…
120–240 min8. Ludwik Geyer's White Factory, home to the Central Museum of Textiles: weaving machines in motion, Polish fashion and an open-air street of wooden houses. Guided tours also in English; closed Mon–Tue.
Zoos
Orientarium Łódź Zoo
Łódź
Sharks and rays glide over a 26-metre underwater tunnel, and a few steps away lies Kraken, a false gharial that the zoo describes as the largest of his species in Europe. Łódź Zoo was founded in 1938, and in 2022 it opened the Orientarium,…
9. A huge year-round pavilion of South-East Asian wildlife with an underwater shark tunnel, elephants and a 5 m gharial. In October 2026 the building opens 9 am–5 pm, last entry at 4 pm.
Historic sites
Radegast Station – Litzmannstadt Ghetto Memorial, Łódź
Łódź
Radegast Station in Łódź (say "WOODGE") is the former railway station from which German occupiers deported the Jews of the Łódź Ghetto, known as Litzmannstadt Ghetto, to the Chełmno (Kulmhof) and Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps. Today it is…
10. The station from which the Litzmannstadt Ghetto's Jews were deported to Chełmno and Auschwitz in 1942–1944. A sobering memorial with the Tunnel of the Deported; free on Wednesdays, closed Fridays.
Top sights on the map
Open the full map1-day itinerary
Morning: the Poznański Palace
The palace opens at 9 am Tuesday to Thursday and at 11 am Friday to Sunday — allow about an hour for the state rooms and the Rubinstein gallery. The mirrored WOŚP Heart sculpture stands across the road.
Places: Izrael Poznański Palace (Museum of the City of Łódź) WOŚP Heart in Łódź
Late morning: Manufaktura
Start at the Factory Museum for the looms and the terrace view, then cross the square to the ms2 branch of the Museum of Art.
Places: Manufaktura in Łódź Factory Museum in Łódź Museum of Art in Łódź (ms1, ms2 and Herbst Palace)
Midday: Piotrkowska Street
From Freedom Square, duck into Rose's Passage, a courtyard covered in mirror fragments at No. 3, then walk south past Rubinstein's piano, Tuwim's bench and the stars of Polish cinema set into the pavement.
Places: Liberty Square (Plac Wolności), Łódź Rose Passage (Pasaż Róży) in Łódź Gallery of Great Łódź Citizens Łódź Walk of Fame (Avenue of Stars)
Afternoon: EC1 power station
EC1 is about 1 km east of Piotrkowska. The science centre needs 2.5–3 hours, so on a short visit choose a planetarium show instead and book it online.
Places: EC1 Łódź – City of Culture (Science Center and Planetarium)
Evening: OFF Piotrkowska
Dinner and drinks in the old Ramisch cotton mill at Piotrkowska 138/140, the city's liveliest after-dark spot.
Places: OFF Piotrkowska, Łódź
2-day itinerary
Day 1: Manufaktura, the Old Market and Piotrkowska
The Poznański empire
The palace first, then the Factory Museum and ms2 at Manufaktura. Visit on a Wednesday for free palace exhibitions or a Friday for the free Museum of Art.
Places: Izrael Poznański Palace (Museum of the City of Łódź) Manufaktura in Łódź Factory Museum in Łódź Museum of Art in Łódź (ms1, ms2 and Herbst Palace)
Where Łódź began
The arcaded Old Market Square, renovated in 2024, marks the medieval town that existed long before the factories. The neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption stands just above it.
Places: Old Market Square in Łódź Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Łódź
Piotrkowska from end to middle
Freedom Square, Rose's Passage, the Walk of Fame and the Heinzl Palace. Children can hunt for Miś Uszatek at No. 87, the first of the bronze cartoon characters on the Fairy-Tale Łódź trail.
Places: Piotrkowska Street Liberty Square (Plac Wolności), Łódź Rose Passage (Pasaż Róży) in Łódź Juliusz Heinzl Palace in Łódź Fairytale Łódź Trail
Night out
Finish at OFF Piotrkowska, busiest on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Places: OFF Piotrkowska, Łódź
Day 2: Scheibler's Łódź and the White Factory
Księży Młyn and the Cinematography Museum
Walk the workers' housing, then visit Scheibler's palace on Plac Zwycięstwa (from 9 am Wed–Fri, 11 am at weekends). The Herbst Palace branch of the Museum of Art is a few hundred metres away.
Places: Księży Młyn in Łódź Film Museum in Łódź (Scheibler Palace) Museum of Art in Łódź (ms1, ms2 and Herbst Palace)
The Palm House
About 4,500 plants in three climate zones in Źródliska Park, including palms over 130 years old. We could not confirm current hours in October 2026, so check before you go.
Places: Łódź Palm House
White Factory and the cathedral
The Central Museum of Textiles at the southern end of Piotrkowska, then the neo-Gothic cathedral nearby. The museum stays open until 7 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
Places: Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź Łódź Cathedral (Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus Kostka)
Or: with kids, EC1 and the Orientarium
Swap the museums for the EC1 science centre and the Orientarium. A combined ticket for both is valid for 90 days.
Places: EC1 Łódź – City of Culture (Science Center and Planetarium) Orientarium Łódź Zoo
Or: Jewish Łódź and the ghetto
Radegast Station and, a few hundred metres away, the New Jewish Cemetery on Bracka Street, the largest Jewish cemetery in Poland with around 160,000 headstones. It is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.
Places: Radegast Station – Litzmannstadt Ghetto Memorial, Łódź Jewish Cemetery in Łódź
Getting there
By train from Warsaw: the journey takes from just over an hour to about 1.5 hours. Aim for Łódź Fabryczna, the underground station in the centre, a few minutes' walk from EC1 and 10–15 minutes from Piotrkowska. Some trains terminate at Łódź Kaliska, west of the centre.
By air: Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (LCJ) is about 6 km from the centre, linked by city buses 65A and 65B. Most international visitors fly into Warsaw Chopin: take a suburban train to Warszawa Zachodnia and change there for Łódź — around 2 hours in total.
By car: the centre is a paid parking zone. Manufaktura has a large car park (about 3,500 spaces) and EC1 offers free parking on Dowborczyków Street.
Getting around: Piotrkowska, Manufaktura and Freedom Square are walkable. Use MPK Łódź trams and buses for Księży Młyn, the White Factory, the Orientarium and Radegast Station.
When to go
Any time of year: most of the big sights are indoors, and the museums don't publish separate winter hours. In summer Manufaktura's square has a city beach; in winter it hosts a Christmas market and an ice rink.
Winter 2026/27 (as of October 2026): EC1 opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am–6 pm, and is closed on 1 November and 24–26 December, closing at 2 pm on 31 December. Its children's exhibition, Street of Elements, is closed for maintenance until 12 October 2026. The Orientarium building is open 9 am–5 pm, last entry at 4 pm. The Old Cemetery on Ogrodowa Street opens 8 am–5 pm from November to March.
Closures: the Poznański Palace (Museum of the City of Łódź) is closed on 27–31 October, 1 November and 24–26 December 2026.
Mondays and Tuesdays: on Mondays the Poznański Palace, the Museum of Art, EC1 and the Factory Museum are shut; the Cinematography Museum and the Central Museum of Textiles are also closed on Tuesdays. On a Monday, go for Piotrkowska, Manufaktura, the Orientarium, the Experymentarium science centre and Radegast Station.
FAQ
How many days do you need in Łódź?
One day covers Manufaktura, the Poznański Palace, a walk along Piotrkowska and EC1 or its planetarium. With two days you can add Księży Młyn and the Cinematography Museum, the White Factory and either the Orientarium or the sites of the Łódź Ghetto.
How do I get from Warsaw to Łódź?
By train — journeys take from just over an hour to about 1.5 hours, ideally to Łódź Fabryczna in the city centre. From Warsaw Chopin Airport, take a suburban train to Warszawa Zachodnia and change there; allow around 2 hours door to door.
Is Łódź worth a day trip from Warsaw?
Yes. With an early train you can see Manufaktura, the Poznański Palace and Piotrkowska Street and still fit in EC1 before heading back. Avoid Mondays, when most museums are closed.
What is there to do in Łódź with kids?
The Orientarium with its underwater tunnel, the EC1 science centre and planetarium, the Experymentarium at Manufaktura and the Palm House. Younger children enjoy spotting the bronze cartoon characters of the Fairy-Tale Łódź trail and the puppets at the Cinematography Museum.
Which museums in Łódź are free?
On Wednesdays the permanent exhibitions of the Poznański Palace, the Cinematography Museum, the Central Museum of Textiles and Radegast Station are free; on Fridays the Museum of Art is free. Children under 7 get in free at the Museum of Art and the Cinematography Museum (as of October 2026).
All attractions (34)
Churches & monasteries
Łódź Cathedral (Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus Kostka)
Łódź
The tallest building in Łódź is not an office tower but a church. The tower of the Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus Kostka at 265 Piotrkowska Street rises 104.5 metres, and the church itself — built of bare, pale-yellow brick — was…
Free entry
Old towns & squares
Piotrkowska Street
Łódź
Piotrkowska Street in Łódź (say pyot-ROOF-ska, and the city is woodge) is the main street of one of Poland's largest cities and one of the longest high streets in Europe: a dead-straight 4.2 km avenue lined with the mansions, banks and hot…
Free entry
Landmarks
Jewish Cemetery in Łódź
Łódź
Behind a red-brick wall in the Bałuty district lies a forest of matzevot (Jewish headstones), mausoleums and old trees. The Jewish Cemetery on Bracka Street opened in 1892 and is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. It covers ab…
Hidden gemOld towns & squares
Łódź Walk of Fame (Avenue of Stars)
Łódź
Under the feet of people strolling along Piotrkowska Street lies an open-air gallery of Polish cinema. The Łódź Walk of Fame consists of more than 113 brass stars set into the pavement — from Andrzej Seweryn, who received the first in 1998…
Free entry
Hidden gemTechnical monuments
White Factory in Łódź — Central Museum of Textiles
Łódź
The White Factory in Łódź (Biała Fabryka, BYAH-wah fah-BRI-kah) is a gleaming neoclassical cotton mill built by Ludwik Geyer at 282 Piotrkowska Street, one of the oldest and most important industrial monuments in Poland. Today it houses th…
180–240 min
Hidden gemGardens
Łódź Botanical Garden
Łódź
It all began in 1946 with a 1.3-hectare plot of medicinal plants in the city's tree nursery. Today the Jakub Mowszowicz Botanical Garden in Łódź covers 67 hectares, making it one of the largest botanical gardens in Poland, with a Japanese…
Hidden gemOld towns & squares
Liberty Square (Plac Wolności), Łódź
Łódź
This octagonal square at the northern end of Piotrkowska Street is the point from which Łódź numbers its buildings, and the place where the industrial city began. It was laid out in 1823 as the marketplace of a new cloth-makers' settlement…
Free entry
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Łódź
Łódź
The domed church with four corner turrets on the corner of Plac Wolności (Liberty Square) and Piotrkowska Street was for more than half a century the church of Łódź's Lutherans — Holy Trinity Church. Since 1945 it has served Catholics as t…
Hidden gemPalaces
Juliusz Heinzl Palace in Łódź
Łódź
Three female figures stand on top of the façade at 104 Piotrkowska Street: Liberty, Industry and Commerce. This is how Juliusz Heinzel, known as the "king of wool" and owner of the largest woollen goods factory in the Kingdom of Poland, pr…
Hidden gemMuseums
Museum of the City of Łódź (Poznański Palace)
Łódź
The Museum of the City of Łódź (until 2009 the Museum of the History of the City of Łódź) occupies the palace of Izrael Poznański, one of Łódź's wealthiest textile magnates. The residence on ul. Ogrodowa, completed in 1903, is itself the s…
Hidden gemMuseums
Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź
Łódź
The Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź (say: WOODGE) is Europe's largest museum devoted to textiles, fashion and the textile industry. It occupies the White Factory, a grand 19th-century cotton mill built by industrialist Ludwik Geyer at 2…
120–240 min
Hidden gemLandscape parks
Łódź Hills Landscape Park
Łódź
Łódź is associated with factories and flat plains, yet just beyond its north-eastern edge the land suddenly rises into ravines, beech woods and river springs. Łódź Hills Landscape Park protects the most upland-like scenery in central Polan…
Free entry
Hidden gemOld towns & squares
Rose Passage (Pasaż Róży) in Łódź
Łódź
The walls of the courtyard at 3 Piotrkowska Street are covered with a mosaic of hundreds of thousands of hand-cut pieces of mirror arranged in shapes that resemble rosebuds. Rose Passage (Pasaż Róży) is the work of artist Joanna Rajkowska,…
Free entry
Museums
Factory Museum in Łódź
Łódź
The Factory Museum in Łódź tells the story of Izrael Poznański's textile empire on the very spot where it operated – in the former fabric printing works on the site of today's Manufaktura. Here you can see how cotton became yarn and yarn b…
Museums
Łódź Palm House
Łódź
The Łódź Palm House is a tropical oasis in Źródliska Park, the city's oldest park: under its glass roof grow around 4,500 specimens of more than 1,100 species and varieties. The most precious are palms that remember the orangeries of Łódź'…
Historic sites
Stary Cmentarz w Łodzi
Łódź
The Old Cemetery in Łódź (Stary Cmentarz, pronounced "STAH-ry TSMEN-tash"; Łódź sounds roughly like "woodge") is the city's oldest surviving burial ground and one of the most striking monuments of its industrial past. On about 21 hectares,…
Free entry
Thermal baths & water parks
Aquapark Fala (Łódź Water Park)
Łódź
Aquapark Fala (say "FAH-lah", Polish for "wave") is the big water park of Łódź (pronounced roughly "Woodge"), one of Poland's largest cities, and the park is one of the busiest in the country, with a record 1.55 million visits in 2025. It…
Amusement parks
Arena Laser Games in Łódź
Łódź
Arena Laser Games in Łódź (say: WOODGE) is an indoor laser tag arena inside Manufaktura, the city's huge entertainment complex built in a restored 19th-century textile mill. Run by the Experymentarium science center, it swaps paintballs fo…
Museums
EC1 Łódź – City of Culture (Science Center and Planetarium)
Łódź
EC1 Łódź – City of Culture is a former power station in Łódź (say "WOODGE") reborn as a cluster of museums: Poland's largest science and technology center, a state-of-the-art planetarium, a national exhibition on Polish cinema and a comics…
Museums
Experymentarium Science Centre in Łódź
Łódź
Experymentarium is a Discovery Centre-style science centre in Łódź's Manufaktura complex, on the first floor of a building on the Manufaktura market square. There is one rule: you have to touch everything. The interactive exhibition has ab…
60–90 min
Monuments & mounds
Gallery of Great Łódź Citizens
Łódź
On Piotrkowska Street you can sit on a bench next to the poet Julian Tuwim, lean on Arthur Rubinstein's piano, or pull up a chair at a table with the textile tycoons Karl Scheibler and Izrael Poznański. The Gallery of Great Łódź Citizens (…
Free entry
Churches & monasteries
Franciscan Monastery in Łódź-Łagiewniki
Łódź
Long before Łódź became an industrial city, pilgrims were already heading to the shrine of St Anthony in Łagiewniki on its northern edge. This Baroque Franciscan complex, with a brick church consecrated in 1726, began with a wooden votive…
Churches & monasteries
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Łódź
Łódź
The Church of the Assumption towers over Kościelny Square in Łódź's Old Town – its two slender towers of red, unrendered brick are visible from afar. It is the church of the city's oldest parish, for almost five hundred years the only Cath…
Technical monuments
Księży Młyn in Łódź
Łódź
Księży Młyn ("Priest's Mill") is the largest historic factory complex in Łódź from the second half of the 19th century: a 207-metre spinning mill, brick workers' houses, a school, a fire station, a hospital and a manufacturer's palace, all…