Cross the 1902 cantilever bridge on foot beside the trains
Bombed repeatedly, still carrying traffic
A long, rusting steel cantilever bridge with a single rail line down the middle and narrow walkways along each outside edge, crossing a wide brown river and the farmed island in the middle of it.
Why it's unique
Long Bien was built between 1898 and 1902 by the Paris firm Daydé et Pillé, the first steel bridge across this river, 1.68 km of cantilever spans on twenty stone piers. It was among the longest bridges in Asia when it opened.
It was bombed repeatedly during the war and repaired each time, and the mismatched spans show it. It still carries rail, motorbikes and pedestrians, which is the part that matters: you walk it beside live trains on a structure that has been in continuous use for over a century, rather than looking at it from a viewing platform.
Before you go
Walk from the Old Quarter side out towards Gia Lam in the late afternoon, so the sun is across the river rather than in your eyes. The walkways are outside the traffic lanes and narrow; motorbikes will still use them, so keep to one side.
Trains pass close enough to feel through the deck. Partway across, a set of steps drops down to the banana fields on the mid-river island, which is worth building into the walk. It is not a loop, so plan to walk back or arrange a ride from the far side.