Torres Vedras is a workaday town north of Lisbon, surrounded by vineyards, low hills, and the defensive ridges that once guarded the capital. Its name is tied to the Lines of Torres Vedras, the chain of forts and earthworks that Wellington ordered built in secret during the Peninsular War.
The town is not pretty in an obvious postcard way. Its value is in the layers: a hilltop castle, the Fort of Sao Vicente, a serious local museum, and the prehistoric Castro do Zambujal just outside town.
Come if you like military history, archaeology, and unvarnished Portuguese towns. It makes a stronger day from Lisbon than many places with better marketing.