Lodz, Poland

Capital City

Forget the glamour - Lodz is an industrial city struggling to reinvent itself, with a population of just 648,711. While the city boasts impressive cultural institutions like the National Film School, the day-to-day reality can be a bureaucratic headache, with one of the lowest church attendance rates in Poland. And with a long, cold winter and a checkered history of social unrest, Lodz may not be the best fit for the faint of heart.