Ryoan-ji

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Ryoan-ji was another World Cultural Heritage Site that I was able to visit during my time in Japan, and was just a short walk from the Golden Pavilion. If you are going to visit either of them, you might as well visit both, and there are other points of interest very close to them both as well. The focal point of Ryoanji is its rock garden and the moments of Zen that it provides to its tenders and visitors, but the entire grounds are very calming and nurturing as well. I once worked with a woman that kept a very small (7" x 9" or so) rock garden by her desk, and people (including me) often took to rake the sand within it when stopping by to talk with her. I figured seeing one of the world's most recognized life sized rock gardens would indeed provide like Zen moments. At Ryoan-ji however, the public is not invited to rake the white rock within, that is attended to by the resident Monks.

The rock garden contains 15 boulders, of which only 14 can be seen at any given vantage point while seated on the Veranda. The size of the garden is around 250 square meters.

As I recall, it was a nominal fee to gain entrance to the interior grounds, which contains the rock garden, around ¥ 500.

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Photos

Area Map
This was a good guide to help you between say the Golden Pavilion and Ryoanji. As you can see from the map though, there are other points of interest than just those two.

Walkway to Shinto Shrine
This small Shinto shrine is on a small island within the lake on the grounds

Rock Garden
The first of several perspectives