Murmansk's main avenue runs the length of the city centre, from the railway station in the south to the heights near the Alyosha monument in the north. The southern stretch is lined with handsome Stalinist apartment blocks from the post-war reconstruction — the original wooden city was almost completely destroyed by German bombing between 1941 and 1944 — while the northern half gives way to Khrushchev-era housing.
It is not architecturally remarkable, but it is the spine of the city: every long walk through Murmansk involves at least part of it. The stretch around Five Corners is the best for cafés, shops, and people-watching.