Your airline tickets is one of the most expensive elements of your vacation. It makes sense to try to stay as long as you can. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of this often overlooked decision.
Good guides are expensive.
They are also the single most important factor in providing an enriching life enhancing vacation. If this is the kind of vacation experience you want, it is well worth it to make sure you will have the services of an excellent guide. The advantage of traveling alone is that you can set your own pace and pick your own company. Traveling in a group is usually a better value than traveling alone. This is because guide and transportation costs are defrayed over more people.