Hanoi Train Street is one of the most unique spots in Hanoi and Vietnam. Yes, it’s crowded and, some would even say, tacky, but there are not many places like this in the world.
Keep in mind that people actually live here, and with it being such a huge attraction, it’s only sensible for them to turn it into business (aka cafes). It’s also the best way to ensure safety along the tracks.
We visited Train Street twice, and since we’re regularly returning to Vietnam, we will visit again. We keep following the situation about entering Hanoi’s Train Street and regularly update this article. If you want to help fellow travelers with your experience, please leave a comment below. 🙂
Now, let’s get into everything you need to know before visiting Train Street in Hanoi.
About Hanoi’s train street
The Hanoi Train Street is one of the most famous and adventurous tourist spots in Hanoi. It’s a tiny narrow street hidden in one of the back streets of Hanoi and surrounded by high narrow houses packed closely together. These families’ backyards are the railways where the train passes a few times per day.
- Read next: Things to do in Hanoi (Guide)
Even though the train passes through a big part of the town, The Hanoi Train Street is referred to only about a 100-meter-long part where it’s the narrowest.
The reason why Hanoi Train Street is so famous is the train that passes literally a meter away from the houses. The safety line (marked with yellow color) is only about 20 centimeters away from the homes, and that’s the line you shouldn’t cross when the train is coming. Trust us, as we didn’t expect it to be so close.
It’s an exciting place to visit because right before the train comes, locals rush into their houses, ensuring their kids, pets, motorbikes, or any other belongings are safe inside. Nothing can be left outside.
The ones who don’t make it inside the houses are hugging the walls, and we were one of them! But the exact second the train passes, everyone runs out and across the tracks as if nothing happened.
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How to get to Hanoi’s train street
The train street is located between the streets Phùng Hưng and Lý Nam Đế, right next to Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The exact location is 5 Trần Phú.
Find it on Google Maps under the name Hanoi Train Street.
You can also see Hanoi Train Street on this food tour. So, you get to taste and learn about delicious Vietnamese food and visit Hanoi’s iconic spot with ease: win-win! Book the tour here (free cancellation).
Is the Hanoi Train Street open for tourists?
Train Street in Hanoi has a history of constant closing and opening. As of 2024, Hanoi Train Street is open and free to visit.
However, there are some restrictions, and depending on your luck, you might be turned around and not let in. In that case, our best tip is to walk around, as a local (owner of a Train Street Cafe) might approach you and take you in.
LATEST UPDATE: 28th December 2024
Hanoi Train Street is now fully open again since early January 2023.
We visited Hanoi shortly after the last closure in October 2022, and it was guarded, and you couldn’t get in anymore.
At the moment, you can visit freely, although it’s likely you will be straight away invited by a cafe owner to come to their establishment, so they control the crowd.
Another thing to note is that just before the train comes, you NEED to sit in one of the cafes and not stay on the side of the tracks. You will get whistled at by the guards and told to sit somewhere.
We’re following the situation closely and will update this article accordingly when anything changes and when we can confirm it. Last update: 28.12.2024
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Other parts of Hanoi Train Street
This is not the only interesting part of Hanoi’s train tracks, as they run through a big part of the city.
You can visit the other parts on the Hanoi On The Tracks Photo Tour.
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Is there an entrance fee for Hanoi’s train street?
There’s no entrance fee to visit Hanoi’s train street, and you can walk along the train tracks freely.
Why was the Hanoi Train street closed?
Hanoi’s Train Street is Vietnam’s most dangerous and surprisingly most famous street. In October 2019, visiting it as a tourist was presumably banned because of the railway operators’ previous problems. What caused the final ban was when the train had to make an emergency stop to avoid hitting tourists. As far as we know, no accident has happened so far due to the tourists coming there.
Since 2019, Train Street in Hanoi has been opened and closed a few times already. As of 2024, Train Street is open again.
Seeing videos of how it looked like with hordes of tourists makes it clear why the place was closed in the first place.
When you visit Hanoi Train Street, please follow the rules, especially when the train is approaching. Cafe owners must follow the rules and ensure all tourists follow them, so please listen to them. And don’t go on the train tracks in front of the train to take the photo. You can get great photos without that!
- Also read: Best trips from Hanoi
When to see the train
The train usually passes Hanoi Train Street late in the afternoon/evening during the week and throughout the day on weekends.
The updated schedule (timetable) of the train passing the Hanoi Train Street is:
- Monday – Friday, nights only at 7 pm, 7:45 pm, 8:45 pm, 9:30 pm
- Saturday – Sunday, all day at 8:30 am, 9:30 am, 11:30 am, 3:20 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:20 pm, 8:45 pm
| MONDAY – FRIDAY | SATURDAY – SUNDAY |
|---|---|
| 19:00 | 08:30 |
| 19:45 | 09:30 |
| 20:45 | 11:30 |
| 21:30 | 15:20 |
| 17:30 | |
| 19:20 | |
| 20:45 |
Updated Hanoi Train Street schedule.
(TIMETABLE UPDATED on 7th May 2024)
However, the train schedule for Hanoi Train Street often changes, so make sure to check it on your arrival to Hanoi at one of the cafes or by contacting them before your arrival (and arrange to sit down for a drink with them).
But as you can see from the timetable, your best bet to see the train is on weekends, as it passes many times throughout the day.
How long to stay at Hanoi’s train street
If you just want to look at the place quickly, 20 – 30 minutes is enough to visit Hanoi Train Street.
However, if you’d like to see the train pass and have a sip of coffee while you’re there, count on 1 – 2 hours.
Cafes at Hanoi Train Street
Train Street Hanoi has lots of cool cafes on all sides, and it doesn’t really matter which one you choose, as they all seem quite similar. As long as you’re on the narrowest part of the street, you’ll have awesome views.
On our first visit to Train Street in Hanoi, we watched three trains pass and covered several angles, both from the ground and the balcony cafe.
During one train passing, we sat in Coffee 74 and enjoyed a hot chocolate and a coconut coffee. Both were so tasty!
Next to that, we got some snacks and small mandarins for free! The owner is so lovely, and she ensured we had an excellent spot to watch the train pass.
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This family also had a lot of small fluffy puppies that became our best friends. Hint: That’s why we chose this cafe over all the others.
Another cafe we would recommend is the Railway Cafe. We spoke with the owner a bit, and he’s a nice Italian guy. Here, you get a different perspective of the train passing as this area is broader.
Video of Hanoi Train Street
To see a bit more of the atmosphere of the train street, check out our video on YouTube (and subscribe! ❤️).
Top Hanoi Tours
What do you think of Hanoi’s Train Street?
Is it as interesting to you as it is to us?Let us know if you visit and what was your experience!
27 Responses
Hey, thanks for the write up. Me and my partner are in Hanoi now (10-Oct-22) and wanted to visit the Railway Cafe. Unfortunately there are military personnel guarding all entrances to the railway who stop any tourists getting up there.
We have seen a couple get access to the tracks who argued with the guards and had a shop owner come out to support them. Many of the shop fronts have their shutters down.
Anyone who visited before it closed was lucky to see it as it was.
Hey!
Yes we were in Hanoi about 10 days ago, and it was the same situation, officers everywhere guarding the entrances. We’ve also heard of the possibility of being let into the area by a cafe owner even before, but we feel like you really have to fight hard to get in.
Good luck!
I’m here right now (December 2022). We got access after we assured to have a coffee.
Hi Petra!
Yes, that was the situation now for a while. Thank you for confirming!
Have a great rest of your trip. 🤗
Sunny regards from Chiang Mai,
Arijana & Matej
We went to Trainstreet yesterday (the 8th of december 2022) and there were no guards, a view coffeeshops were open!
Hi 🙂
Great news! Thank you for letting us know!
Was the whole place open? Like, were there more cafes operational?
Because we have heard of people contacting the owner of the Railway Cafe in advance so that they can be in the cafe for the train passing.
Sunny regards from Chiang Rai,
Arijana & Matej
Yes, you can easily walk over the tracks. I think 5 or 6 coffeeshops were open. There were 2 policemen walking around
We had a view drinks at Hanoi 1990
That’s great!
Thank you so much. ♥
We hope it remains open!
It’s open now. I went last week. Apparently all open since early January.
Hi Caroline, thank you for the update! We’ve been getting the same information since early January as well. And a friend was there about 2 weeks ago as well.
Let’s hope it stays that way! 😀
Hello, it s closed again . I am here today.
Hi, could you explain a bit more about the situation? Last we know, you could enter if you went and grabbed a drink at a cafe. Was that not the situation? And another part of the train tracks is now active as well, further along the tracks down towards the train station from that spot.
We’re here on March 14 2023 and it’s closed. The military doesn’t let you in. And there’s no way you can argue. Someone even told us that there is no train going through anymore because of an accident that happened recently. So wouldn’t recommend going there!
Hi,
Yes, you are not wrong. The situation is very complicated. And it depends heavily on the time that you visit the train street. Officially, it is still closed, but unofficially, it depends on how lucky you are.
The train definitely still goes as it’s a regular schedule of a normal train. That’s just a way to get you to stop trying to get in.
March 6-16 closed.
Hi Todd, thank you for the update. Was anyone else let in?
Unfortunately, absolutely not true. I am standing in front of the road right now and it is completely closed. Police is taking things quite seriously, shouting at tourists to leave. We weren’t even allowed to take photos from the main road.
Don’t go there, safe your time for the one near Bangkok.
Hi Emily, sad to hear that you couldn’t get in.
The current situation is definitely weird, and some people can definitely get in while others don’t.
Looks like it will be completely shut again.
I will plan to go Train street at 8 of April.
Anyone knows still available ? Many thanks.
I went on April 8th. A coffee shop bought us in, we were able to stay until right before the train arrived, then the police emptied all of the shops. Only people who were able to stay were ones that hid. It was not worth it.
We went today, 15 April. And it was completely closed off, with military guarding the entrance and didn’t let anyone through.
There were some shady people getting you into cafes. When we tried to enter one without someone guiding us in we were screamed at by the owners and they told us to leave. Not sure what that was about since they had other guests earlier. Not a very nice experience anymore unfortunately.
It’s now 5 July, 2023 – is Train Street officially open to tourists again?
Hi Lynette,
At the moment, it’s still the same situation as it was a few months ago.
You are able to enter the train street, but you have to be escorted by a cafe owner (or one of they partners – scouts).
There are “guards” at the entrance and if you don’t go to an establishment there, you won’t be allowed to pass.
So it’s essentially open, but it’s limited.
Hi, Just to let you know how things work, because my girlfriend lives in the train street.
Officially, local authorities want to shut the place down but it’s something that won’t happen immediately.
This is due to too much tourists coming and some are really irresponsible and… accidents happened.
But this I suppose everyone knows.
The thing is, only tourists that are brought in with the cafe owners can come in (and also, sometimes them try take each others customers. So if them start yelling, that’s why). Depending on the police, sometimes you are allowed to stay outside at the front of the shop or, for others, must stay inside. It also depends if the police at the gate is in a good mood (or if the little envelope was big enough). Sometimes even the police is checked and if them are aware of military control, then everything stay closed.
You can try your chances at night. Then all police is gone but there aren’t much trains. Just a few cargo trains at night.
The whole experience depends actually on the local police at the time you come…
Hi Bouli, thank you for this extensive explanation!
We tried to see the 11h30 train on sunday 27/08 and we failed. policemen not really pleased and not willing to explain the whys and hows ; all cafes closed, no customers seated.
All tourists gathered at the crossed street in front of a local store where the angry proprietary yelled us to back off and actioned a very loudly emergency horn to get the crowd off her store.
Nothing but a waste of time.
To avoid
Hi Sebastien. Yes, unfortunately the situation is quite complicated and many fail to visit.
Hopefully, they find a way to make this work. 😕
There are spots that are not as restricted further down the rail tracks. Maybe that is a better option.