3 things to do at Kinkaku-ji

No trip to Kyoto is complete without a visit to Kinkaku-ji. Also known as the golden temple, Kinkaku-ji is quite possibly the most famous temple in Japan. But with the main temple remaining inaccessible to the public, you may be wondering what else there is to do at Kinkaku-ji, besides taking photographs of the beautiful temple. So here's a list of 3 things you can do while viewing Kinkaku-ji.

There are a few places along the path near the pond where there are fortune bowls set up. You have to try and toss a coin into the bowl in order to get good luck. The larger the value of the coin you toss in, the larger your fortune.

It's a lot harder than it looks! It's also pretty fun and my friends and I spent a good minute or two trying our luck. Just remember not to spend too much in your pursuit of good luck!

As you walk along the path, you will come to another temple area, where you can pray and buy tablets to write down your wishes. You can also buy souvenirs from the gift shop there.

This is also one of the few temples where you can get English fortunes! Just insert 100 yen into the machine and collect your fortune. If you get good luck, great! If you get bad luck, just tie it at the designated area to prevent it from following you.

You will probably be travelling to several places on the same day, so why not make a pit stop for a little ice cream break!

The ice cream shop serves several flavours such as matcha, black sesame and the very Japanese vanilla. I decided to get matcha and a friend of mine got black sesame, which makes your whole mouth black. Soft serve matcha ice cream is seriously delicious, you can’t just have one you know.
Kinkaku-ji is very beautiful and its no wonder that it's the first thing people put on their itineraries. Remember to take lots of instagram worthy photos as well!