The Hanoi Presidential Palace is a grand colonial mansion next to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It is on the west part of town. Security is very tight here, and many times I was shooed away by the fierce-looking security guards with their shrill whistles. You can only view the Presidential Palace from the outside, as it is closed to public, and I can say I have seen it as near as I could go.
Behind the Presidential Palace is the Botanical Gardens, which I passed by but did not stop.
Getting there
The best way to reach the Presidential Palace from Ho Hoan Kiem is by taxi, since it is quite a distance to walk (even though in fact you can walk). Using the Ho Hoan Kiem as the starting point, go west along Hang Khay Street. It becomes Trang Thi Street. Eventually you reach a split; the right branch is Dien Bien Phu Street. Take that street, crossing the railway track and continuing on until you see the Army Museum on your right, and the triangular park on your left. The Lenin statue is quite visible on the park. Continue along Dien Bien Phu Street, and it eventually leads you to Ba Dinh Square. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is in front of the square. Next to the mausoleum is the Presidential Palace.
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About this website
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.