the best city you can't pronounce

When it comes to fairy tale destinations, the Polish city of Łódź wouldn’t trouble many - if any - bucket lists. Nicknamed “the Manchester of Poland”, it was a smoking industrial behemoth during the 19th Century, before collapsing into catastrophic decline after the Great Depression.

But fairy tales are writ large here today - or rather, painted large. Across the city - Poland’s third largest after Warsaw and Krakow - colossal, colourful murals are appearing on the walls of derelict apartment blocks, warehouses and factories in ever-growing numbers. And many of these arresting pieces of art are enormous, ebullient interpretations of traditional Polish tales. One of the most impressive, “The Old Lady With The Chicken”, towers over a major junction, depicting a famous children’s poem where an amiable grandma and her gold-feathered hen fly to the moon.

Łódź (pronounced “Woodge”) is on an upward trajectory of its own, with young artists and entrepreneurs flocking here in their tens of  thousands, drawn by cheap rents, a lively social scene and initiatives like Urban Forms, the street art project which spawned The Old Lady With The Chicken, along with dozens of other multi-storey murals across town. 

From Manufaktura - a gargantuan Gothic factory now stylishly renovated into a boutique shopping and entertainment village - to the city’s Shoreditch-esque hipster heart “Off Piotrkowska”, this is a renaissance of Detroitian proportions, which should be putting Łódź firmly onto tourism radars around the world.

Our Mini Grand Tour - an epic road trip across 30 European countries in one calendar month, behind the wheel of our trusty racing red MINI Clubman, is unearthing a steady stream of these semi-hidden gems. A day after Łódź, we find ourselves admiring yet another one, just across the border in the Czech Republic.  

Brno - the historic capital of Moravia - is a fairly tale city in the more traditional sense, with its twin-spired Cathedral, sloping cobbled streets and medieval market squares, jealously guarded by dramatic Spilberk Castle, which sits on a hilltop above this pretty Czech town.

Like Łódź, it seems borderline ridiculous that Brno isn’t a larger blip on the British travel radar. Both cities are of similar size (populations of 600,000 and 400,000 respectively) with good airports and plenty to do, making them ideal city break options for Britons. But both languish, in the truest fairy tale-tradition, under the shadow of overbearing big sisters - in this case Warsaw and Prague.

These ‘Cinderella cities’ are a running theme of our second week on the road. The route, designed by UK adventure travel specialists The Flash Pack, sees us travel from Stockholm to the wonderfully rugged Aland islands and thence onto mainland Finland beyond, via a series of seamless Aferry.co.uk connections. From here, we cross the Baltic Sea from Helsinki to Tallinn, before an extremely enjoyable day spent driving from Estonia (breakfast) to Latvia (lunch) and finally into the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in time for dinner.   

Post-Vilnius, we cross into central Poland and then south - through the mind-bogglingly beautiful Moravian countryside - to Brno.

Unhampered by airports - and thanks to our trusty Clubman - we are able to explore our neat string of fairy tale cities, from pretty Mariehamn (the capital of the Aland Islands) through the ancient Finnish capital Turku, to Baltic pin-ups Tallinn and Riga. Later - past Łódź and Brno - we arrive in the almost laughably beautiful Mikulov in South Moravia, where we end up learning a series of traditional dances from the region’s “premiere folklore band”, Straznican, before spending the night in Hobbit-style barrels on a local vineyard.   

What we’ve learnt after 12 days on the road and 3,000 miles, is that this continent has a veritable embarrassment of riches when it comes to fairy tale towns of all shapes, sizes and flags. And the majority of them are hidden in plain sight behind the same old stories: places like Copenhagen, Krakow and Prague.      

In this context, it’s rather ironic that the original children’s poem which spawned The Old Lady and The Chicken was entitled The Aeroplane. The grandma and her golden hen gained a new perspective on the world from high in the sky. But for us, standing here on the streets of Europe’s most leftfield fairy tale city, the opposite perspective has reaped more rewards. It’s on the road - and in towns like Brno, Mariehavn and Turku - that Europe’s real magic lies. 

Follow Jonathan Thompson’s mini Grand Tour of Europe at Telegraph Travel, via his blog at mini.co.uk/mini-grand-tour or on Instagram and Twitter  

Or read last week's blog, in which he visited what might just be Europe's friendliest country. 

The Ultimate European Road Trip: Week Two

Day 6: Stockholm, Sweden - Mariehamn, Finland

Miles: 119
Stay: Havsvidden www.havsvidden.com - a beautiful rural retreat with an open fireplace and seaside jacuzzi
For more en route: www.visitaland.com/en/

Day 7: Marienhamn, Finland - Turku, Finland

Miles: 126
Stay: Original Sokos Hotel Hamburger Börsissä, a great hotel perfectly located in the heart of the city centre, between the main square and Turku’s popular riverside bars and restaurants.
For more en route: http://www.visitfinland.com/

Day 8: Turku, Finland - Tallinn, Estonia

Miles: 158
Stay: Three Sisters, a beautiful 14th century Relais & Chateaux property in the old city with a great restaurant. (The Queen and Prince Harry are both big fans).  
For more en route: https://www.visitestonia.com/en/

Day 9: Tallinn, Estonia - Vilnius, Lithuania

Miles: 375
Stay: Hotel Stikliai, Vilnius - a fantastic boutique property and the default destination for any A-Listers passing through Lithuania. Former guests include Daniel Craig
For more en route: http://www.lithuania.travel/en-gb/

Day 10: Vilnius, Lithuania - Łódź, Poland

Miles: 365
Stay: Apart Hotel. Admire the beautiful architecture of a 19th-century converted textile mill in the centre of Łódź. 
For more en route: http://www.poland.travel/en-gb and http://www.lodzkie.travel/

Day 11: Lodz, Poland - Brno, Czech Republic

Miles: 284
Stay:  Vinarstvi pod Hradem - unique and cosy, this property offers accommodation in specially converted wine barrels at the end of a vineyard. A unique way to spend the night after a tasting session of the excellent local wines.
For more en route: Visit Czech http://www.czechtourism.com and Visit South Moravia - http://www.moraviaconvention.com/

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