I played when I was a kid. I found the violin really difficult until I learnt guitar.. then it all kinda fit into place. It's difficult to get the hang of and, like any instrument, takes a lot of patience. It's been a long time since I played but it wasn't any more difficult than any other instrument I've tried. Definitely easier than a piano, however a piano can still sound relatively okay if you go wrong :P
And any musical instrument shop (Keys is the nearest one to me off the top of my head, but I don't know if it's a single shop or a chain. If you don't live near Oldham I guess that wont be much help...) will have more or less everything from the basic wooden ones to the weird steel skeleton ones. Depends on where you are, I guess :) I couldn't tell you a price though. Shop around a bit is all I can suggest there :)
Hope that helps :)