The new, safe and comfortable way to do Vietnam’s infamous Train Street

I’m a little confused. Ten years ago, when I was last in Hanoi, its most Instagrammable attraction, Train Street, was not on the tourist radar. Now, as I wander down this narrow stretch of active railway track lined with cheerful cafes and packed with phone-wielding live streamers, I can’t help but wonder: how and when did it become a thing?

“No one came here back then,” my guide Tom says. “Local people considered it dangerous, a place for gangs – you wouldn’t come down here alone. But social media changed all that, maybe about eight years ago.”

Built by the French in 1902, this section of track between Hanoi Railway Station and Long Bien Station has always passed perilously close by homes and businesses. But as the adrenaline rush of sipping on a Vietnamese coffee as a train flashes past a whisker away became documented, more and more overseas visitors flocked to the area, curious about how locals live, work and socialise in harmony with the railway.

So a phenomenon was born, generating millions of Instagram posts and creating a colourful tourist precinct of bars, restaurants and cafes adorned with flags, lanterns and fairy lights that swells in numbers and mania according to the train timetable. And despite ongoing safety concerns and occasional closures as authorities crack down on irresponsible behaviour, the spectacle and buzz of life on the track remains Hanoi’s most alluring attraction.

While getting a trackside seat is the hottest ticket in town, I’m experiencing Train Street from a different, safer perspective – onboard Hanoi’s newest cultural attraction, the Hanoi Five City Gates Tourist Train, launched in September 2025.

Devised as a “moving cultural space”, this 40-minute rail journey travels from Hanoi Station, along Train Street and intersections crowded with cars and motorbikes, across the Red River and historic Long Bien bridge to Tu Son station in neighbouring Bac Ninh province, where guests alight and join buses to Do Temple, one of Vietnam’s most important cultural relics.

Named after five historic gates from the Red River Delta – Cau Den, Quan Chuong, Cau Giay, Cho Dua and Dong Mac – each of the luxuriously appointed carriages is retro-themed and decorated with vintage Indochine items (ours features an old rickshaw plumped with cushions and brightly coloured conical hats suspended from the ceiling) as well as heritage photographs and a range of seating, including bench seats facing panoramic windows.

While the upper floor has a glass-domed roof, seats on the lower floor are the pick for the best views of Train Street – you are literally face to face with tourists waving and taking photos as the train whooshes past. It’s both thrilling and hilarious – I feel a little like an animal in a zoo exhibit – but it’s a great way to appreciate just how close the train comes to clipping protruding limbs, phones and cafe furniture.

Meanwhile, guests on board are treated with other cultural touches – a sticky rice snack, cups of jasmine-scented lotus tea, and an intimate performance from musicians playing traditional Vietnamese instruments. Photo opportunities abound: train staff dressed in traditional garments insist on passengers posing with them before alighting the train, while many of the mostly Vietnamese guests have embraced the occasion by donning colourful Ao Dai dresses.

Unfortunately, the commentary provided throughout the journey is currently only offered in Vietnamese; and as we wander around the 11th century Do Temple, it becomes clear that this package is very much aimed at the local clientele, with minimal interpretation for Westerners.

It’s fascinating to watch Vietnamese tourists delighting in the experience, however. Streams of children parade by on school excursions, waving excitedly to the tall, white foreigners; the devoted offer incense at the temple, dedicated to the eight kings of the Ly Dynasty; while singers belt out folk songs distorted through a PA system as they punt around a lake in a dragon boat, the discordant cacophony creating a festive atmosphere for who knows what purpose.

It’s approaching lunchtime as the train returns to Hanoi, and Train Street is at capacity as we flash by, unwitting players in today’s Instagram live feed. But it’s a case of mutual exploitation – and I think my Insta post, of hundreds of faces and phones in almost nauseating close-up taken through the train window, trumps all others.

THE DETAILS

TOUR
The Hanoi Five Gates Tourist Train departs Hanoi Station twice a day. Tickets are priced from VDN550,000 ($31); children under six free. Bookable as an add-on for Vietnam tours with Best Price Travel. See bestpricetravel.com

The writer was a guest of BestPrice Travel.