Travel

I was going to put the title of this post as "Travel Woes" but that sounds kind of spoiled. I am hoping to travel this summer, which is a blessing that I am even able to consider it!  So, no, I won't complain about that fact that I get to travel.
But, can I just complain a bit about the planning of such travel??
Here's the scoop:
My son and his wife live in Wales. I have not seen them in over a year now and I would really like to visit and see them and see where they live.
 I went to London once many years ago for a long weekend to celebrate my anniversary. Frank was there on business so we had a free hotel and his flight was free (to us). It was a great 4 days but that is the extent of my European/UK travels.
I don't really know what I should plan to see while I'm there (probably going for about a week). Since I have been to London I feel like I should try to see some other place...but where?
Also between our schedules and my son and his wife's schedules, we have just a limited number of times that work. The best one is mid July which is apparently an expensive time to go.
Woe.
I've been searching flights pretty much every day for weeks and weeks. They are super expensive (like $1200 per person for the cheap seats = no seat selection and other crap like that). I've been saving so in theory I could buy these tickets but then my money would be gone and I wouldn't have a hotel or anything else. Hmmm.
But maybe I won't have a choice.
So then I start thinking maybe I should go later like September. Unfortunately Frank's work travel usually ramps up in the fall so it feels risky to try to plan a fall trip.
I tend to overthink in general so this planning thing is really making me nuts.
How do people find good deals on flights?
Yes, I've joined some groups, I use a private browser, I use google flights and kayak and travelocity and expedia.  I feel like I'm doing all the things.  Which is probably partly why I'm feeling crazy.
But these kinds of searches are all just into/out of London. Should I be flying into London but out of someplace else?  Is flying into London a bad idea (price-wise)?
My knowledge of European geography is bad so I'm not able to easily think about flying into someplace because it's close to someplace else.  So you can add staring at maps to the list of things I'm doing to try to figure this trip out.

I've basically been googling flights every single day during my lunch break and in the evening. Flights have gone up a bit and then down a bit but always in the 1200-1500 range.  That is so much freaking money!  And I'll be in a middle seat for 10 hours overnight? ugh.

Anyway, I'll update when I actually bit the bullet and get a flight.  Whatever happens, I'll be so excited to see Austin and Katy! (That's what I really care about)