Andafiavaratra Palace

This place is basically run by scammers. The building looks decent from the outside, but inside it is almost completely empty, like an unfinished construction site. There is nothing on the second and third floors. Do not go to the second floor — there are no safety measures, and there is a serious risk of falling. The exhibition area contains only a few artifacts and some photos. There is very little to see, and everything is poorly organized and unprofessional. As soon as they see foreigners, they will constantly harass you. There are many so-called “guides,” but they are not licensed. They repeatedly ask for money and overcharge. Even beggars will demand unreasonable amounts — if you give them a tip, they will ask for more, and even more people will come to ask you for money. Please be very careful. I do not recommend visiting this place, and I will warn my friends and family to avoid it.

Majestic and great view a lot to know about history of this island

Don't mistake this palace with the restored Queen's Palace further uphill. This place is a total rip-off, with nothing inside. It's just a messy, empty hull with a few placards on Madagascar's independence that you can read about online.

Interesting place. We were talked into using a guide but we found it really wasn't necessary. Enough signs to tell a story. Worth the visit.

Really cool Malagasy building with informative displays and knowledgeable guide. 40,000 to get in. They said you need an official guide. He will look for a tip and a chance to guide you around the other palace past the post office up the hill. I used another guide for that to spread the tip money around.

Very few artifacts on display inside a couple of small room, really not much to see, not well preserved, no organization. As soon as you arrive, there are a lot of local "tour guides" who are not actually licensed guides who swarm up to the car who then try to coerce money out of you however they can. They'll keep telling you that they need to split the money between them and they need to save the money, wants euros or US dollars instead of the local currency (ariary) so they can get more, and it's not easy to leave until you pay them A LOT more than what they should guide (based on what the hotel and local driver told me). The driver was scared to tell me that they were asking for too much since these fake local "guided" would get mad at him later. The whole country is full of people who try to trick, beg, or coerce money out of you. Beware. I won't be going back and will let my friends/family know not to visit. The lemurs are not worth with dealing with the humans there.

Well, the place has been restored and it's great to see it in real... Actually, it's like the palaces we see in movies... :-) and it's would be awesome to visit the rooms upstairs but it's not yet possible for now

The Palace interior was being renovated when I was there. There are a limited number of exhibits but they are made fascinating if you have the right guide. My guide was "Tahina" who expertly explained the artifacts in excellent english (he speaks 5 languages). The weirdest exhibit was a small diorama of monkeys dressed in victorian guide at a party to represent the Malagasy people. It was presented by Napoleon to the Malagasy people as some sort of joke but they kept it all this time. You are asked to give the guide something after the tour. I asked my guide if he could help arrange a car and driver. He ended being my guide on a 12 day trip through southern Madagascar and did a great job. Ask for Tahina as your guide. I had a different guide at the Queen's Palace and he wasn't half as good.