Things to do at Hanoi Train Street

Train Street is a stretch of residential railway a few hundred metres from Hoan Kiem Lake, where the tracks run so close to people's front doors that laundry lines and café tables sit within arm's reach of a working line. The line still carries a handful of passenger and freight services a day, run by the state railway between Hanoi station and destinations north and south.

Access has been unstable for years: the authorities have repeatedly closed the trackside cafés and barricaded entrances, then allowed them to reopen under supervision, and the rule in force can change without much notice.

Treat any claim about current access, opening hours or ticketing as temporary rather than settled, and check locally on the day rather than relying on an old post or a fixed schedule.