First try and decide where you might want to go - Rjukan in Norway offers very good roadside ice, Scotland offers more mountaineering type ice climbing with big walk-ins, and the Alps (La Grave, Conge etc) offer a mountaineering feel but shorter walk-ins than Scotland (usually!).
The best way would be to get a buddy and then hire a guide or instructor.
For Scotland and Norway you would be looking for a MIC qualified instructor or a UIAGM qualified guide. For the Alpine areas only the UIAGM guides are allowed to work.
You can then ask what their daily rate is and split it between the 2 of you. As a guideline an MIC would be looking for around £150-£200 per day (and possibly expenses if in Norway) and a UIAGM around £250 per day (and possibly expenses in the Alps). The range in price tat you have seen comes from people advertising these course and some including the expenses others not, and also if the gear is included in the price or not.
Some courses which appear cheaper may have you in a larger group for the first couple of days, then moving onto a small ratio for the remainder, so again decide what you want to do and get out of it.
If you are set on the Alps then try a friend of mine, Graham:
http://frostguiding.co.uk/
Hope you have a good one
Bryn
