Traveling with husband and two teenage boys to Pyrenees in August. Looking for base for a 4 to 5 day stay. We'll hike and bike and relax. We would like a town with enough interesting things to walk to, good places to eat, etc. Probably Spanish side, but we're flexible. Not a fancy resort but casual! Any ideas? Thank you.

The Pyrénées span a very large area in Spain, covering the autonomous regions of Navarra, Aragón and Catalunya. So to help you find your ideal 4-5 day base, it would be very helpful for us to know what comes before and after in your itinerary so that we can suggest the best area given your pre and post travel plans.

Maribel is, of course, correct, but from near "my" bit, I'd be inclined to suggest Arreau or St Lary Soulan.

I suggest that you stay in Ainsa or Boltaña. To me Boltaña is very charming, but Ainsa has better connections to the Valleys of Ordesa, Chistau and Benasque.
We stayed in Hotel Boltaña and visited Ainsa many, many times. Most of the time we were living in smaller villages like Plan, Torla, Benasque, but especially Plan and Torla seems to be too small for your taste.
About the walking routes:
I recommend the Faja routes in the Valley of Ordesa. The Valley of Benasque is also lovely and the routes are much easier. In the Valley of Chistau there is a great variety of routes. The most interesting ones start from Camping Forcallo and Puerto Saunc. However, the sand road is not in a very good condition.
A good guide for the routes is: http://www.topwalks.net/en/index.htm
All these routes are day walks and the route descriptions are very detailed. Also, the slideshows and photos give you a good impression of the character of each walk.

Thank you for the ideas. We've got two weeks. On the front end, we're flying into Bordeaux, doing a few days along the coast (Biarritz, surfing, Bilboa). Then the middle (???) and flying out of Barcelona (will probably spend 3 days there). Don't want to do too much packing and unpacking/coming and going!

Krisdc
This website is even better for your needs as it lists both walking and cycle routes. which can be downloaded onto a GPS if you have one.
http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.d...ln=1&z=8&tab=0

krisdc,
Since you'd like to "settle down" in one spot rather than hop from valley to valley, changing lodgings...

on the Spanish side, I'd also suggest a base in Aínsa in the Sobarbe of Aragón.
I've stayed there and can second that it has good connections to different valleys.

From there you drive up to Saint-Lary-Soulan on the French side.
As walksntalks notes, It's close to some great walks in the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido to the west and the charming mountaineering town of Benasque to the east.
And Aínsa offers more lodging options than Boltaña.

www.turismosobrarbe.com/index.php?idi=3

I think Pau is great place to base yourselves. I lived there for five years and love biking and hiking. There are plenty of trips you could do from Pau. I have some pictures on my website if you'd like to see more.

http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/accous_to_laruns.htm

http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/chemin_de_la_mature1.htm

http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/cycling_w...t_france_1.htm