Martin McCarthy

I've been fixated on the stars ever since Hale Bopp passed us when I was a child. I gazed in wonder at it every night for a week and it's never left me. I've got a burning desire to see a planet and it's surface through a telescope, but I am no astronomer. I figure there must be somewhere for tourists to go and pay for a guided experience, either in the UK or abroad. However I'm not sure where to start, so here I am. Can anyone point me in the right direction?