Bao Dai Palace I, in the central highlands city of Da Lat, where King Bao Dai and the former head of the toppled Southern Vietnam regime, Ngo Dinh Diem, lived, has been opened to visitors.

Bao Dai Palace I 

Vo Thi Kieu Trang, deputy director of Da Lat Hoan Cau Co. said the palace is a part of the city's VND700bn (USD33,000) resort development project, with VND100bn spent on the palace's renovation and VND600bn set aside to upgrade the grounds and build hotels and restaurants.

Trang said free entry to the palace will be allowed from September 15 to 30, with reduced ticket prices in October.

Palace opened for visitors 

The two-storey palace, surrounded by pine forests, was built by a millionaire official of the French colonial administration, Robert Clément Bourgery, in 1940. Bao Dai acquired the building and turned it into a palace.

After Ngo Dinh Diem became the president of the south, he turned it into a headquarters for high officials whenever he came to Da Lat.

After 1975, the palace was given to some tourism firms, but the business failed and the structure was left to deteriorate.