Look down from the Long Bien Bridge at almost any hour and you will see them: flat green islands in the middle of the Red River, stitched with garden plots, footbridges and sandbars. Hanoians call the biggest one opposite the bridge “banana island” for the banana gardens that dominate it, though the island crops have shifted with the seasons and the river for as long as the city has existed. For riders, the islands are the closest thing to the countryside inside the city limits — twenty minutes from the Old Quarter and a different world.

Getting down

The islands sit below the dyke, and access is by the ramp lanes near the bridge approaches on the Long Bien side — small, steep, and dusty in the dry season. On weekends there is usually a motorcycle parking operation near the main footbridge areas; on weekdays you ride in and park wherever the garden owners direct. A small toll or parking fee (a few thousand dong) is normal; it comes with an informal neighbourhood watch, which on an island of narrow tracks is worth having.

The riding

Island roads are farm tracks: packed earth, sand, brick ends and the occasional concrete strip. The skills are the gravel-road skills — loose-surface caution, weight back over bumps, no sudden front braking. In the wet season the clay between the banana rows turns greasy, and after river floods the low tracks can be rutted or underwater; the rule is simple: if a track looks questionable, it is, and the island is big enough that turning back is never expensive. Between the gardens you pass family pagodas, buffalo, fish ponds and football pitches that appear and vanish with the sandbars.

What people actually do there

The classic visit is a morning loop: cross Long Bien Bridge at dawn, drop down the ramp, ride the island’s spine track past the gardens, stop for pho or grilled corn at the seasonal cafes that cluster near the water, then follow the riverside track and re-cross — or continue along the dyke toward the next village ferry point. Photographers come for the mist over the water at 06:00 and the contrast of glass towers rising behind banana leaves. Families come for the sense of space; the city looks close enough to touch and is entirely absent.

Season notes

  • Dry season (Nov–Apr): firm tracks, dust, golden light — the best months.
  • Wet season (May–Oct): green and lush but greasy after rain; some low tracks flood when the river rises. Midday heat is serious; go early.
  • River behaviour: the islands shrink and grow with the river. After significant upstream rain, check locally before riding far onto the low sand areas.

Bikes and gear

Any scooter in reasonable condition handles the main island tracks; low ground clearance and low tyre pressure make the biggest difference, and tall touring bikes have the least fun. A bike you are comfortable stepping off and pushing for twenty metres is the right bike for the islands. Helmets stay on, of course — the rules of the city apply below the dyke too, even when it feels like a village.

The islands are the local’s answer to the question “where can I breathe near Hanoi?” — no ticket, no tour, just a bridge, a ramp and a river. Ride them once and they become the plan for every free morning you will ever have in this city.