I'm planning to go to Europe in Jan or Feb, 07 and thinking about going to Switzerland for a week..what would you recommend in general? Is it too expensive to do a private tour? Is taking a tour better? Pls give me general comments and advices...
Thank you..appreciated you all.

Well- first - why Switzerland in winter?

If for winter sports you will want one of the mountain resorts and don;t need a guide - just to find the right one for your level of expertise and style (super trendy nightlife, serious skiing only or???).

If not for winter sports I'm not sure I would do Switzeralnd in winter - since much of what you want to see do (you haven;t said - but cities, museums, hiking, boat rides, seeing mountaintops/small villages?) are actually better in the warmer weather.

A private guide for any week long tour would be outrageously expensive (with car? Meals? hotel?).

You really need to tell us what you want to see/do and some rough idea of budget for people to help you.

thank you..
i would like to take my mom, she lives in HK. I love skiing but sure she doest like! thinking about luzern..
dont know much about it..so what city you suggest..I love mountains..history.. I will do a research and will be more specific..

Spend time in the resorts like Interlaken and you'll have a great time. Forget the tour or guide it's pointless. Talk to the locals there a wealth of information

I live in Hong Kong and used to live in Zurich. Your mother may have a shock with the very cold weather in the winter, so she would need to be really dressed warmly, as coming from warm Hong Kong she won't be used to it. Take a look at weatherbase.com for temperatures. She will need to have a very warm winter coat, hat, gloves, wool or heavy cotton sweaters, long underwear, etc.

I think Switzerland is absolutely beautiful in the winter and the Alps are actually more stunning in the winter than summer. If you really want to go in the winter, then I would go in February as there are many events that will go on around the Ash Wednesday and Lent celebrations leading up to Easter. In particular, I would suggest you go to Basel, about an hour from Zurich by train, which is famous for its "fasnacht" celebrations. This is the Swiss version of Carnivale. This is one of the highlights of the Swiss year and not seen by many tourists (they are too busy skiing or come in the summer). All the cliques (trade guilds or other medieval groups) dress up in masks and bizarre costumes and compete in day and evening long musical festivals, and there markets and fairs connected with this as well. If you like history, this is certainly an event for you. In 2007 the fasnacht celebrations will take place on Februrary 26 - 28. For info, go to http://www.fasnachts-comite.ch/english.html. I would suggest you spend 2 nights in Base so you can se the events (which start at 4 am most mornings) and see the town. It has a very charming old town area and a lovely cathedral and several good museums. I can recco some hotels. (You would need to book shortly for faschnaucht actually.) You can then decide where you want to spend the rest of your trip.

If you want to go to the mountains, your mother could do things like horse drawn sleigh rids, winter walking, and taking cable cars up for views (fine if you are dressed for it and chances of clear weather are actually better than in the summer). You could consider places like Zermatt which has the famous Matterhorn and some very good skiing. The St Moritz area is also very beautiful has good skiing, good shopping (for Mom), and you could spend a day taking the wonderful Bernina express train ride up and over the glaciers, go to rhb.ch for info. You could also go for a day to the absolutely gorgeous little village of Guarda and also Scuol. (Staying in Guarda might also be an option). The Gstaad area is another option, with good skiing, good shopping, and you could take the Golden Pass train to see some high mountain passes and the Lake Geneva area, go to http://www.goldenpass.ch for info.

The Bernese Oberland area is also of course a beautiful area. I am not such a fan of the skiing there, but for a day or two it would be fine I think. I would recommend staying up IN the mountains themselves, in Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, my preference is Wengen. Being in the mountains just is more beautiful, you can do more walks and you can get the train up to the top of the Jungfrau more easily (go to http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en for info). I am not a fan of Interlaken and would not recommend staying there as it is not in the mountains and is not a resort in that there is no skiing from there; it would be about an hour to the nearest lift for skiing. Lucerne is at least an hour from the slopes and could be more, I have not skied from there so perhaps someone will post. I am not a fan of Lucerne, but there is more to do there for a non-skier. You could split your time, and after Basel spend 2-3 nights in the mountains and the remaining time in Lucerne, as you can get to Zurich airport from Lucerne in about an hour, so it would most likely be possible to stay in Lucerne until the morning of your flight.

For train travel times between all the places I have mentioned, take a look at rail.ch. You can do all this travel on your own, you do NOT need a tour. People on this site can recco hotels and restaurants if you provide a budget.