Drink coffee on the rail line as the train passes an arm's length away
Cafes that fold away for the 19:30
A narrow lane where the rail line is the street, lined with small cafes whose seating sits on the track bed between trains, cleared to the walls a few minutes before each service.
Why it's unique
A working railway runs down a residential lane with houses and cafes opening directly onto the ballast. When a train is due the tables come in off the track, everybody stands against the wall, and the train passes close enough to touch.
Access is now controlled rather than open: group tours were banned outright in March 2025 and the only lawful way in is as an individual customer of a licensed cafe. That makes it a specific arranged experience rather than a street you wander into, and it is the reason it still exists at all.
Before you go
You cannot simply walk in. There are barriers and police posts at the entrances, and the way through is to have picked a cafe first and to say you are their customer, at which point someone comes to escort you in.
The Le Duan section near the main railway station is markedly less commercialised than the photographed Phung Hung stretch, with no pressure to keep ordering. Get the day's actual train times from the cafe rather than trusting a timetable you found online, and be prepared for the section to be shut with no notice — that happens regularly.