Areias

Areias is a small locality in the municipality of Tomar or the adjacent Serra de Aire area, in the Santarém district. Its name means sands or sandy areas, referring to the sandy or light-textured soils that develop on the plateau terrain in certain zones of the limestone massif of the Serra de Aire e Candeeiros.

The settlement is modest, set in the open scrub and heath landscape of the upper plateau zone, where the Camino Português crosses the highest and most exposed terrain of the Portuguese interior section. The limestone plateau here has a distinctive open, windswept character compared to the forested hillsides below.

For pilgrims, this section of the route on the serra is often one of the most atmospherically intense of the Portuguese Camino, with wide horizons and a sense of remoteness from the valley settlements below.