At the height of the recent ash-cloud travel debacle, a friend of mine was stuck in Barcelona at a furniture sales conference for eight days. He ran out of money and his hotel charged a fortune because they knew he had nowhere else to go.

Similar stories, and the images of thousands of passengers stranded at airports around the country in a state of limbo, really made me determined that I wouldn't fly to a five-day break that I had booked months before in the picturesque English counties of Cheshire and Lancashire.

The ferry companies weren't slow about releasing statistics on the number of stranded travellers flocking to them because of the ash restrictions so I decided to give ferry travel a try, something which I hadn't done since I was a small boy.

It was a revelation. We drove up to the terminal at Dublin Port just an hour before the Irish Ferries Swift crossing was due to leave. It was the polar opposite of the permanent queues at Dublin Airport. Because I took my own car, there were no worries about baggage restrictions and we drove on to the ship within 15 minutes.

By the time we left the port and had a cup of coffee and a stroll around the decks, it was nearly time to get off. The journey to Holyhead in Wales takes less than 100 minutes and for me the fast and comfortable ferry was definitely the way to go. I'm already planning my next trip on it. The beauty of the UK is that the infrastructure is so good and with excellent roads along the Welsh coast into England we were in Cheshire in less than two hours. Plus we saved on taxis to the airport, car rentals and the general stress that airport travel causes these days.

Our first port of call in Cheshire was the gorgeous Nunsmere just a little bit outside Chester, which has become famous for where the TV series Hollyoaks is filmed and because it is home to dozens of Premier League footballers and their Wag wives, who can be spotted from a mile away with their massive jeeps, dodgy fake tans and peroxide hair-dos.

Nunsmere House Hotel is a beautiful old country home with fabulous sprawling grounds and a five-star restaurant. The restaurant is really one of the highlights of Nunsmere and it's worth staying for the menu alone. There is a focus on seasonality and local ingredients and fans of programmes like The Great British Menu will recognise many of the flavour combinations and references. Two nights here and we were more than relaxed, which was down to the really friendly staff and the excellent breakfast.

We drove around the area a little and headed for Chester, which is a very lovely city and well worth a visit. The black-and-white architecture evokes Shakespearean times and the pedestrianised city centre makes it a lovely place for a stroll. There are also many picturesque villages close to Nunsmere, which are great to stop off in for lunch or afternoon tea.

After relaxing in Cheshire, we headed north to Lancaster. It's not a British city that you hear much about but there's a lot to like here.

It's a university town so it's really lively, but it's also very historic. The castle is a must-see attraction, although you should know that it's also a working prison and the tourist entrance is around the back – we tried to get in the prison gates; not a good idea!

There is a very young and active vibe to Lancaster and we got into the spirit of it. There's a big cycling community around the county and we rented bikes from a company call Cycle Adventures, which gave us maps and a picnic lunch, and headed off on a lovely trip by the river.

The 15km cycle route we were given seemed pretty daunting but it's all very flat and really well signposted and turned out to be a breeze – although our legs were happy when we got back to the Pennybridge Hotel where we were staying. This is a lovely boutique hotel in the middle of all the action and has a great restaurant and bar.

After Lancaster we took a trip to the Lake District, which is as amazingly pretty as you can imagine – although the main lakes are a tad touristy so if you can seek out some smaller, less well-known spots it's worth it.

But it's really all about the food in Cheshire and Lancaster. It's all amazing and even a pub lunch is really good. (Aiden Byrne's pub and restaurant in Lymm, Cheshire, does the best chips I've ever had, anywhere, ever.) In Lancaster we ate at the Borough, where we tried a traditional hotpot; we can fully recommend it. Eating out was far cheaper than we were used to at home and the food was of a far better quality too. The two counties are definitely places for foodies.

Our short trip was action-packed and we also stopped at Morecambe and Blackpool for a little look before leaving the area. They are old-school British towns that have seen better days but are worth a visit, especially to eat the famed Morecambe Bay shrimp and to see the cheesy Blackpool Pier.

The drive back to the ferry took no time at all and we couldn't believe how much we'd seen and done in such a short time. We're definitely doing the ferry/drive again. With no lengthy queues, luggage restrictions (which means you can fill the car with all the things you buy in the delicious farm shops you pass by), or ash cloud fears it definitely is the stress-free way to travel.

www.visitbritain.com
www.enjoyengland.ie/breaks
www.visitlancashire.com