An Dinh Palace

A flamboyant early-20th-century royal residence on the An Cuu River where European baroque meets Vietnamese motifs, later home to Emperor Bao Dai's family.

An Dinh Palace was built between 1917 and 1919 for Emperor Khai Dinh, who had lived on the site as crown prince, and later became the residence of Empress Dowager Tu Cung and the family of Bao Dai, Vietnam's last emperor, after his abdication in 1945. In contrast to the restraint of the Imperial City, it is unapologetically European: a three-storey main building, Khai Tuong Pavilion, with ornate stucco facades, gilded ceilings and Italian-style frescoes, framed by a formal gate and a garden that once held a private theatre and a small zoo. Six large wall paintings of the royal tombs in the ground-floor hall were restored with German conservators in the 2000s. The upper floors display furniture, photographs and personal objects that tell the story of the dynasty's final, Francophile generation. It is a compact, atmospheric visit, an easy ten-minute ride south of the centre and a good counterpoint to the tombs.