In the first of our new Wanderlust Weekender series, we wanted to share our favourite finds from our recent month in Sri Lanka. Travelling as a family it’s all about finding a good mix of beaches, fun places to explore and we're always the hunt for good, authentic food. Below we've put together everything we loved from our trip - from street vendor food stops to snakes farms, and everything in-between! Including the best surf spots and a new restaurant opening that’s not to be missed...

Street Food - Sri Lanka Style

Some of the best food that we ate in Sri Lanka was from the open local buffets on the side of the road. For £3 you could stack your plate up with the most delicious local curries and rice. They like their chilli in Sri lanka which we learnt about the hard way. The base of the SL curry is coconut, giving it a lot more sweet and smoother taste than Indian curries.

The Ruin in Hiriketiya

Only a month in and this is already one of the most talked about restaurants in the South of Sri Lanka. It offers a Mexican fusion menu, with fresh home-made tacos and cocktails which are out of this world. The Mexcian Mary was our staple drink there.

Beach Day

Hiriketiya beach is famous for surfing and you can rent boards by the hour, so you can grab a wave or two before lunch.

The Roti Shop 

This side of the road Roti shop was one of our favourite spots for a late-night snack. Rotis are normally filled with a spiced vegetable filling and wrapped into quarters. Our boys number one filling was Nutella obviously.

A room with a view

We stayed at Timeless Villa in Ahangama which is right on the beach with a great pool looking over the waves. It’s a great place to learn how to surf, with the waves being fairly manageable. There is a good hub of surfers and fellow travellers that stay at Timeless so it has a great vibe. They have a brilliant restaurant that served Benny the best curry he’s ‘ever had’!

You can rent surf and boogie boards on the beach and get hourly surfing lessons.

Snake Farm Wellingama

We visited a snake farm in Wellingama with the kids as they are both snake mad. There are a couple of rehabilitation centres in the area where they go and rescue snakes that have gone into peoples homes. They had a few pythons when we visited, which kill up to 900 Sri Lankans a year and are mainly found in the rice paddy fields. The snakes are kept for about a month and the released into the wilderness at least 20km from where they were found.