Is it possible travel to Sapa on our own? If it is, any advice on what to do/not to do would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

I'm not sure what you mean by "on our own." You will need to take a train (not necessarily the expensive Victoria rain) and will need to buy tickets either at the train station in Hanoi or through an agent in VN.

You will want to book a place to stay, either on your own, through a booking service or a travel agent in VN. You do not need a guide to visit Sapa.

Sapa is an easy destination. I suggest buying overnight train tix in advance with any Hanoi travel agent and also booking a guest house (they can meet the train - this is best). Once you're there you can easily book tours or a trek with the locals or your guest house. Sapa is very tourist-friendly. The town swells with tourists on the weekends - everyone wants to see the weekend markets. A beautiful and rustic hilltop place - bring good hiking boots. I use this travel agent - excellent:
http://en.vietnamtour.com.vn/

Hi - Thanks both for your responses. Although we're planning to wing around by ourselves without a fixed itinerary and guide, it's obvious that we need to book our tickets. Which train carriers would you recommend?

Other than the fancy and expensive Victoria car(s), it's all one train.