VN is easy to do on your own, no need for a package tour. You might want to use a local agent to do your booking. Tonkin gets a lot of good reviews here, Vietnamstay is another that gets good reviews.

Where to go depends on your interests and what time of year you are traveling.

Agree that it is easy to arrange on your own. Lots of discount booking sites for hotels and airlines can be booked online. That said since it was the end of a nine week trip, i ended up working with Tonkin just because i was tired of researching and booking. they were very easy to deal with. Had great suggestions and were very responsive

yes, VN includes 3 regions North, central, South. Everywhere also has theirs history. If you want to experience natural beautiful landscapes, you can visit to Da lat, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, etc. Besides that, you can go to Ho Chi Minh city, Hue, Ha Noi to enjoy Vietnamese heritage and culture. If you go to HCM city , Huế, Hà nội, you don't need to take package tour. you just take a map. Have a good trip. ^^

<<<If you go to HCM city , Huế, Hà nội, you don't need to take package tour. you just take a map. >>>

Absolutely agree!

I would not go for a package tour. If you want help in planning u can use Tonkin or other, but don't do anything prepackaged as it will cost you more money.

Agree with above posters. Vn is easy. As I've offered before, if you want, I am happy to send my vn notes to anyone that is interested. Just email me.

With 12 days to play with I would stick to one region, probably the north in order to avoid spending to much time travelling between locations.. Hanoi will provide the best insight into the culture and heritage of Vietnam. Allow 4-5 days to really see the city.

For natural beauty the Mai Chau valley is only a few hours drive away and is a great place to experience a taste of rural Vietnam. Further away, usually an overnight train journey, is Sapa and its environs best for a min of two nights to see the valley, it's villages and markets. Ba Be lakes is also very beautiful but is a very long drive from Hanoi but the home stays there are a rewarding experience if you don't mid giving up on a few comforts.

Some photos of Sapa and Mai Chau

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/3/tpod.html

Some more info and photos of Hanoi and Ba Br on our blog, entries #13 and 14
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html

AGree with crellston re Mai Chau -- a lovely area that is close to Hanoi and avoids an overnight train back and forth to Sapa. Great alternative if you want to save a day or two.
I used dgunbug's wonderful notes and they were very helpful both planning and on the trip itself.

NZwanderer: Hope you don't mind me asking ?? here.

crellston -- where did you stay in Mai Chau?

yestravel -- how advanced did you have to make the reservation for the Mai Chau Lodge? Is it refundable with Tonkin?

Thanks to all.

Probably about six months. However I doubt we had to make them so far in advance. The hotel was not full. I don't remeber the cancellation policy for Mai Chau. we paid for multiple parts of the trip to Tonkin.

dgunbug - how do I email you for a copy of your notes?

thanks

<<<However I doubt we had to make them so far in advance. The hotel was not full>>>

On the other hand, we tried to get in a day in advance (March 2011) and it was full.

Winter so - click on my name and look under my profile for my email address.