To me, visiting the country had always meant “country hotel”. Previous breaks in the UK would never see me leave the confines of the well-manicured grounds – the nearest I would get to mud was having a clay wrap in the spa. And I certainly never intended to lift a finger when I was on holiday – otherwise, what is the point in going away?

But as we drove through the endlessly winding roads of the Peak District, trying to decide which fabulously rustic yet sophisticated restaurant we’d spend our evening in, I realised that “self-catering” doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re chained to a hot stove for the week.

Because what the Peak District does really well is food, and had we stayed in a hotel, we’d doubtless have been sick of its restaurant by the end of the week and of having to be back for supper at 7pm.

Being self-sufficient meant we could try it all at our own pace – locally produced sausages, regional cheeses and, of course, in an area that has spawned its own namesake pudding (Bakewell), it would have been rude not to gorge on the proliferation of desserts.

We arrived late on Friday night at Darwin Forest, a small park in the hilly countryside between Matlock and Rowsley, and we didn’t know what to expect. As we drove past the site’s pub to the wails of karaoke, I was only half-joking when I told my boyfriend that we’d clearly arrived in the Twin Peaks District.

But the next morning, waking up after a lie-in in our secluded log cabin, it all started to feel different. There was no mad rush to catch the last breakfast service at 9.30am, and instead we were able to make our own fry-up with local bacon from the site’s store.

We realised that Darwin Forest was a cosy cluster of chalets reminiscent of a ski resort, only without the risk of breaking your leg on the piste. Timber lodges sleeping up to six can be rented for a week at prices ranging from about £430 off-peak to £1,300 in summer.

Still, just because we had our own kitchen, we weren’t obliged to use it. The Grouse and Claret in Rowsley became a regular haunt as it serves breakfast until midday, including the best meat and eggs that local farms can offer. It is next door to the famous Peacock at Rowsley, which is everything you’d expect a restaurant in the Peak District to be – a roaring log fire and friendly hosts serving the most tender roast beef either of us had ever eaten.

Be sure to try the broccoli and Dovedale soup. Made with cheese from the eponymous village up the road, we decided it was proof that we really shouldn’t waste too much time self-catering. Three courses at Sunday lunch cost £27.50.

And there are less countrified eateries. The Walnut Club in Hathersage serves a large menu to the relaxing strains of a jazz chanteuse in refreshingly modern surroundings, while the Michelin-starred Fischer’s at Baslow Hall showed us it was worthy of its award with a sumptuous Gressingham duck breast.

Tempting as the food was, there were times when we dragged ourselves away from the Peak District’s dining tables and deli counters. Fortunately Darwin Forest has a large gym and pool to undo all the damage we had been doing to our waistbands, and despite being confirmed city types, we felt we had to try one of the area’s walks.

With the help of www.peakwalk.org.uk, we planned a relatively easy hike across Hathersage Moor. We still can’t decide if the website’s three-hour estimate was optimistic or if we were just slow. We had eaten a very large lunch, and the website probably assumed that most people could follow simple instructions and/or a compass. (Here’s a tip – set out in the morning to ensure there is plenty of light left on the return hike.)

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