Again thanks, this is incredibly helpful!! So I think I'll look at trains for trips from bigger cities to other cities, and fill in the gaps with bus if the pricing works out. A little more planning is needed.
Even though it's expensive, I do want to spend around a week in London. Being an architect, there's just so much to see and do there, like seeing the Houses of Parliament and Westminister Abbey. I plan on being on the go almost all day each day there -- can rest later, maybe in the countryside somewhere. So the key thing here is to get a cheap place to stay and find some budget places to eat. If they're like stores around here, you can get sandwiches and soups in grocery stores, so that will do okay. Would like a warm meal once a day, maybe dinner in a pub? I'll look into it more.
I do know that I want to get to Stonehenge and the Roman ruins in the city of Bath. I've heard the city of Chester has interesting architecture, so I think that will be on my list. My mom was a HUGE Beatles fan, so maybe a day or two in Liverpool just to make her jealous. I've heard Wales has nice castles, so if that's not too far out of the way, I see about heading there for a few days. I don't know much about Edinboroughs but that would get me into Scotland.
I know I need to do a lot of research and between my classes and all I'm going to start some planning.
Does anyone out there have other "must see" suggestions that I can use into planning this trip? I'm very excited about this!! Especially great places in the English countryside that would help me stay in budget?