Buddhism: Where To Begin

If your interested in Buddhism, but don't know where to start, or have been reading lots of stuff about Buddhism, but have no idea where to begin, then you will be happy to know, that for a long time I was the same way too.
For 8 years I had read lots of books about different teaching and meditations, and practiced a great deal. I had also been to lots of different teachings, and retreats too. However after my 8 year searching, I still did not feel that I had a good foundation, on which to move forward with my practice, until recently when I found my beginning, after settling down and choosing a Buddhist Center. This has inspired me to write this post.

I guess the best place to start would be to have some kind of understanding of the person who started Buddhism, Buddha Gautama or Prince Siddhartha. I feel that the story is that accessible, that you will be able to find it ether online, or in a book somewhere, plus I don't want to take that special moment away from you, by summarising the lovely story, here on my post.

Buddha gave his first sermon or teaching in Deer Park, what is now Sarnath, India near Varanasi.
He taught what is known now, as the Four Noble Truths and the 4th truth being the 8 Fold Path.
I would say that these teachings are the foundation or starting place of any person interested in Buddhism. Again there are a number of sources that you can access, be it online at your local library.

Sarnath, India

Once you have become familiar with the details above, and feel you would like to explore this more, I would advise you to contact your local Buddhist center, and or, explore other centers until you feel comfortable with one, as there are a number of different types of Buddhism.
The reason for this, is that the main disciples of the Buddha traveled and spread his teachings, and they developed different styles. So you have Tibetan Buddhsim, Zen Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism etc. With this in mind, it is worth stating, that while the assortment of traditions may seem very different, they all have the same core teachings, that the Buddha taught.
When you feel comfortable with your chosen center, you will then be able to get guidance, of where to start and how to progress on the path to enlightenment, from your teacher at the center.

From my own personal experience, trying to do it alone, lead me to read books and teachings, that where to advanced for my practice, and distracted me from the foundation work that was required.
I guess the problem with reading books about different teaching, is that they never state what level the person should be before doing a set practice, so you can feel that you are moving along quite well alone, when in fact you are lacking the foundation skill that give them advanced teachings there potency.

I hope this is of some help.

Thanks again for your time and If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.