How would one go about traveling to the UK for a week? And about what would it cost?

A friend of mine has invited me to visit her in Newcastle in the fall. I’d like to go, but I’ve never coordinated any kind of international activity before, and I’m not really sure where to start.

I’m also a bit worried about the financial end of things. On the one hand, I have limited assets – I don’t think that I could direct more than about $2–3,000 towards this venture, at the very most (and even that would put a lot of my current wants on hold for a while). On the other, I think I could do with an adventure; you’re only young once, and it’s been eight years since I was out of the country.