You see, I disagree that my personal opinion would have been valuable to throw out earlier. What I would personally do simply doesn't matter. That's the difference in perspective that you have as a tourist and I have as a travel professional. You are talking about what you would do, what you find manageable, what you value, and you are superimposing your preferences on other people's travel planning, trying to convince them that you know best. I take a different tack--it doesn't matter what I would do or what I find valuable or what I think is manageable. What matters is what they find manageable, valuable, and what fits into their personal comfort zone. I just give them the real information without any editorializing. They can make up their own mind; they know best what will work for them and what will spoil the fun.I look it from the perspective of advising a fellow traveler who may have limited time, money, may never make it back to the place they are considering traveling too, etc...the same concerns i would have... And Quero, you never said it was a trip you personally would make until much later...I think that's something that would have been valuable to throw out earlier.