Avenue Mohammed V is the main spine of Gueliz — a broad Protectorate-era boulevard lined with art deco commercial buildings, pavement cafes, and the kind of walkable street life that the Medina, for all its richness, does not offer. The French built it in the 1920s and 1930s as a standard colonial boulevard, but the accumulated decades have given it a character that is distinctly Moroccan: patisseries selling msemen alongside croissants, terrasses where men play cards all afternoon, clothing shops selling djellabas and European fashion in the same window.
Walking the full length of Avenue Mohammed V from the railway station to the junction near the Medina walls takes about twenty minutes and covers the full range of modern Marrakesh — a useful orientation walk for anyone who has arrived and spent their first day in the old city.