IN the 1960's and 70's, when he was at the height of his influence, Federico Fellini often retreated to his vacation villa in Fregene, a sun-swept town on the Tyrrhenian coast, to escape the bustle and commotion of Rome. Others came as well: his wife, the actress Giulietta Masina, of course; the filmmaker and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini; the novelist Alberto Moravia; and a dashing actor named Marcello Mastroianni, to name a few. In this golden age, Fregene, once a simple fishing village, became an oasis for Italian intellectuals and Rome's fashionable Via Veneto crowd.

Fellini, Pasolini and Mastroianni are all gone, and the glamour associated with Fregene faded over the years. But now a new group of celebrities and glamorous young people have rediscovered the town for the same reasons it drew sun seekers 40 years ago: it is a quick getaway from Rome and an upscale alternative to the congested beaches of nearby Ostia. Throughout the summer, actors, soccer stars and the Roman gentry come here to feast in waterfront restaurants, to dance until the wee hours and, most of all, to tan themselves on the beaches.

"Before, it was a place of artists," said Claudia Campagnola, a 29-year-old actress from Rome whose family has a villa in Fregene. "Now, it's something of an in place."

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