You will never do a group tour again
We loved having a personal experience, not part of a group. We picked the level of accomodations and the specific sites we wanted to see. Not possible with a group of your "closest" friends. I got sick (a 24-hr bug) requiring a trip to a hospital and finding a pharmacy on a weekend, missing 1 day of our tour, but I can't imagine how that would have turned out had we been part of even a small group. I did not find the cost of a personal tour more expensive and the flexibility was wonderful. We never felt like locusts descending on a restaurant or tour site. There's a lot of continuity in having the driver who picked us up at the airport being with us for the entire 2 wks. He was wonderful! We also know of a few others who used EIT and had a great experience which is why we felt confidant in choosing them.