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PLAF ATTENDEE 101 #2 — When in Łódź…

PLAF ATTENDEE 101 #2 — When in Łódź…

Though your main purpose for traveling to Łódź, Poland might be Promised Land Art Festival, there are many other places worth checking out during your stay. Whether you arrive early and have some time to spare, are looking to stay longer, or you (however improbable) find yourself with time to kill between the activities and attractions at Promised Land Art Festival, here are some of the many things Łódź has to offer its visitors!


Before we get to the main course, a small disclaimer. Promised Land Art Festival tickets grant you access to the main event and Art For All events only! When touring the city, please remember to check if the place you plan on visiting requires a ticket purchase. If it does, you can purchase one online or directly at the venue you will be entering. Now, on with the show!

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The birthplace of The Witcher and CD PROJEKT RED

In case you didn’t know, Łódź is the hometown of Andrzej Sapkowski, creator of The Witcher universe and author of many books about the adventures of professional monster slayer Geralt of Rivia. And there are plenty of spots around Łódź that celebrate this fact. There are two famous reminders that Łódź is The Witcher’s birthplace, the first being the inconspicuous look-wise but aptly named Skwer Wiedźmina (The Witcher square, which is, in fact, a park), where, especially in the summer, weary travelers can rest up before their next venture (no monsters roaming about, we promise!). A more recent addition to the city’s Witcher-themed spots worth a visit is the majestic The Witcher mural created by Polish artist Jakub Rebelka in collaboration with, among others, CD PROJEKT RED. And speaking of the latter, Łódź, is also the original HQ of CD PROJEKT RED, whose game dev history began with the first video game adaptation of The Witcher! If you’d like to check out where our path began (and brag about it!), take a stroll through the upper part of Traktorowa Street of Łódź, which since our time back there, much like ourselves, has changed significantly, though we like to think our creative spirit still lingers on.



Museums, history & culture

Łódź’s staggering number of museums, art exhibitions, and places of historical importance are all well worth a visit, but if time is in short supply, here are just a few spots to consider seeing! For cinephiles, Muzeum Kinematografii (Film Museum) features various exhibitions that dive into Łódź’s long and storied place in film history — including a permanent exhibition covering the birth of cinema in Łódź, and various time-limited exhibits, many of which are available in English. Want to know more about Łódź itself? Pałac Izraela K. Poznańskiego (The Izrael K. Poznański Palace) houses the Muzeum Miasta Łodzi (Museum of the City of Łódź), which lets you go back in time and discover the journey that Łódź endured. Biała Fabryka (Ludwik Geyer’s White Factory) is a sight to behold itself with its classist architecture on constant display, but its premises also feature the Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa (Central Museum of Textiles), a museum dedicated to the textile industry and all its various aspects, the largest of its kind in Europe and also unique on a global scale. Last but not least, Pasaż Róży (Rosa’s Passage) designed by Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska is a place unlike any other — a narrow courtyard between tenements, the walls of which have been fully embellished with pieces of broken mirror, which is an extraordinary sight to behold, with a story behind it to match.



Greenery & gardens

If you’re looking for some zen activities, or a moment to connect with nature, there are plenty of places to scratch that itch, too. The dozens of parks scattered around the city are one thing, but among them, a few stand out — like Park Źródliska I, beautiful in and of itself, but also housing the famous Palmiarnia (Palm House), which contains freely growing exotic plants from around the world on display, including palm trees — duh! — as well as banana and fig trees, bamboo, and more. Elsewhere, the local Botanical Garden invites you to take in the sights of its lush body of flora of various, albeit more local varieties, spread across 670,000 square meters, making it one of the largest botanical gardens in Poland. And let’s not forget the Orientarium, which is not just a modern pavilion dedicated to the fauna and flora of South East Asia (and home to 35 species of land animals and 180 species of fish), but actually the most modern one in all of Europe, and a massive one at that, equalling 10 full-sized football pitches!



Food, drinks & more

Foodies, this is the section for you! If you want to eat something that you’ll remember Łódź by, numerous locales will have just the thing for you! While naming them all would be impossible (and also difficult, as each of us has a taste for different things), we would like to point you toward two classic Łódź stomping grounds that are bound to have something for everyone. The first one is Off Piotrkowska — a section of the city that houses many a bar and restaurant that are well worth your time and money. Just stroll around and you’ll definitely come across something that will get those taste buds going, while also offering a feast for the eyes when it comes to decor. The second place is Manufaktura: once a hugely impressive factory, it now acts as an equally impressive arts center, shopping mall, and leisure complex in one — a perfect place to grab a bite or drink with friends as well as experience a bit of culture, if you’re up for it.



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And there you have it! We hope these curated selections will help you scratch the surface of what Łódź has to offer — and if you’re on the lookout for more, visit Lodz.Travel, the official tourism portal of Łódź, for even more ideas.


Thanks for reading through our second article in our PLAF ATTENDEE 101 series! We hope it helps you get the most out of your visit to Łódź. Let us know what you think and if you’re planning to extend your trip to check out Łódź — and be on the lookout for more articles regarding Promised Land Art Festival soon!


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