Less than two weeks ago I was in Poland having visited Poznan and Wroclaw - there really is something about the country that I like! The food is great, the people are friendly, there is some stunning architecture in the cities and generally it is fabulous value too - what more do you need?

This week away with Heather started with a Friday evening Ryanair flight from Birmingham to Modlin which is about 40km from Warsaw. Arriving at around 23.30 we were soon in a taxi and heading to our accommodation for the night, the Hotel Sokolowska, which was just 4km from the airport and walking distance to the railway station in the morning.

Travelling by train on the Saturday morning, via Warsaw Wschodnia station, we arrived into Łódź (pronounced something like 'wood-j') just before midday. The newly renovated and rebuilt central railway station called Łódź Fabryczna is however still a bit of a hike from the city centre itself - although there are tram connections if you want to use them.

Our hotel was the opposite side of city from where we arrived but the walk gave us the opportunity to see some of the central area and the main shopping street. Łódź is pretty much a two mile long semi-pedestrianised street called Piotrkowska lined with many grand buildings housing shops, cafes and restaurants.

The city of over 700,000 people was the centre of the Polish textile industry and there are many massive factory sites dotted around the city. At the northern end of Piotrkowska is Manafaktura, a fabulous renovation/rejuvenation of the old Poltex factory site. This giant shopping, eating and entertainment complex shows what can be done if you have the vision and a lot of money to invest.

After visiting Manafaktura we hopped onto a few trams and just saw some bits of the city outskirts with no real aim other to get maximum value from our one day ticket (£2.75). Once back on Piotrkowska we found a nice Italian restaurant called Presto to eat at before heading back to the hotel. Łódź may not be on many Polish tourist itineraries but there is enough to easily fill a day.

In the morning we headed out to Łódź Widzew railway station by tram for a train to Krakow and then an onward connection to Wieliczka to visit the far more touristy salt mines complex.

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