Presidential Palace, Hanoi

The presidential palace is located right next to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and the little house on stilts that Ho Chi minh lived in.
Ho chi Minh refused to live in the presidential palace when he was president and and build a little wooden house on stilts in the garden instead but these days the president of Vietnam has no problem living a luxury lifestyle way above the average vietnamese citizen.
The entrance to the palace also covers the visit to the house on stilts so it's worth going there even if you can not enter.
The palace is in a quite nice old colonial building but it has been painted in a fairly ugly yellow color that makes it look a little crappy if you ask me.
You can not enter the palace but view it from the outside on the way to Ho Chi Minhs house which is down in the backyard.

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The Presidential Palace, built from 1900 to 1906, is located next to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and used to be the Headquarters for the Governor General of Indochina. After the French were defeated, in 1954, Ho Chi Minh didn't want to live in the Presidential Palace, instead he lived in two humble houses on the Palace’s ground (read my other tips). Nowadays the Palace is used for international meetings, and is not open for public. But you can have a look from outside, and the Palace Garden with the large fishpond is also a nice place for a walk.

Don’t try to take any pictures from outside the front gate. Before I paid the entrance fee I wanted to take a picture from outside, but was stopped by the guards. After I paid the fee I could take as many pictures of the Palace as I wanted...

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After the French were defeated, in 1954, Ho Chi Minh denied staying in the Presidential Palace. Instead he lived and worked in two humble houses on the Palace’s ground. First he stayed in “the House of 1954” from 1954 to 1958. Thereafter, he built a Vietnamese house made of stilt ("the House-On-Stilts") and lived there from May 1958 to September 1969.

You are not allowed to enter the houses, but they are both quite open and have big windows, so you can still get an impression of Ho Ch Minh’s simple lifestyle.

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Located to the north of Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, this wonderful building was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina. When Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the grand structure for symbolic reasons, although he still received state guests there, and he eventually built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house. Don't try and get a photo of it from the front gates on the main road as the guards won't like it.

There is nothing special about the Presidential Palace as you are not allowed to enter but it is situated beside the Ho Chi Minh Masouleum and I saw it on my way to the Quan Thanh temple. It is nice to just have a look and grab a picture.

Though the Presidential Palace is closed to the public, you can enter its grounds and visit Ho Chi Minh's House. The palace was constructed by the French in 1901 and Ho's house was built in 1954.

Nearby is the the Ho Chi Minh Museum which was completed in 1990 with the help of Soviet money. It opened on the 100th anniversary of Ho's birth, and it contains numerous items from the man's life, celebrating socialism.

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After the cyclo driver drop us, we headed towards Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Along the way we couldn’t help of noticing this yellowy mustard colour building. To our astonishment it was the Presidential Palace. Unfortunately it’s not open to general public. You can walk around the grounds and take photos from outside of the beautiful French colonial building.

Yes you can tell the French colonial power was here in Hanoi. The Palace is French contribution of great architecture to Vietnam. The Palace was built between 1900 and 1906 for the French Governor General in Indochina.

After the defeat of the French by the Vietnamese, Ho Chi Minh refused to live at the Palace; instead he built a modest cottage on the palace grounds and resided for four years. He was a true people’s leader and a simple man with a simple lifestyle.

Today the Palace is used by the President of Vietnam for Government meetings and official receptions. Ambassadors to Vietnam from different countries will give their credentials at the Palace.

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While my friends and I were walking away from the Ho Chi Min Mausoleum, we came across this building. At that time, I did not know what it was but was impressed by its graceful architecture and took photos of it.

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The Presidential Palace was built at the turn of the 19th century (1901) for the governor-general of Indochina. Unfortunately it's closed to the general public and is now used to receive visiting heads of state. (Very interesting how they do not allow anyone to stand on the footpath outside and take photo's of the building, you have to stand across the street to photograph the building?!). You can however view it and the grounds while visiting Ho Chi Minh's house....
Opening times are, Tue - Thus & Sat - Sun; 7.30am - 11am, 2pm - 4pm.

The Palace itself is a magnificent yellow building. It was formerly used as Indochina's Governor Palace. However it's heavily guarded and you can just view it across a lawn.

The whole of presidential palace area is a large garden consists of the palace, a garage, a house uncle Ho lived during his 60s and the House on Stilts where he lived during his 70s, these structures are surrounding a pond in the middle. If you have a lot of time to spare, there's mango road and fruit garden to wonder around.

Try to find a tree that grow from two trunks but joined at the branches about 40ft high ;-) It's before the garage.

Entrance fee: VND5,000
Open 7.30am to 11am and 2to4pm during summer
Open 8am to 11am and 1.30to4pm during winter
Open daily except Monday and Friday afternoon