Long Bien Bridge

A kilometre and a half of riveted steel across the Red River, built between 1899 and 1902 and originally named after the governor-general who ordered it. It carries one railway track down the middle with a lane for motorbikes and a walkway on each side, and no cars at all.

American aircraft bombed it repeatedly between 1967 and 1972 and it was repaired each time; the mismatched spans are the record of that. It is the only place in Hanoi where you can stand still, above the city, with a hundred and twenty years of it underneath you.

What it costs

⭐ Free. The walkway is public and open at all hours.

When to go

⭐ Late afternoon, walking out from the city side, so the sun goes down over the river in front of you. Trains cross a handful of times a day and there is no useful published rhythm to them — if one comes while you are on the bridge, stand well back on the walkway.

Getting there

The ramp is at the north-east corner of the Old Quarter, about ten minutes on foot from Dong Xuan Market. Walk up the ramp; do not try to join it from the riverbank.

If you only have an hour

Walk out to the third or fourth span, which is far enough to be over water and to see the banana fields on the sandbank below, then come back. Twenty-five minutes.

What people get wrong

⚠️ The walkway is narrow and the surface is uneven. Motorbikes use the lane beside it at speed and will not slow down. Keep to the walkway itself, watch the gaps in the decking, and do not stand on the rail track to take a photograph.