LOCAL HERO SUITE DREAMS JULIET, BRAVO ETERNALLY YOURS

The 1965 Fellini fandango Juliet of the Spirits (Giulietta degli Spiriti) made fine use of Fregene – a seaside haven, just over 20 miles west of Rome on Italy’s Tyrrhenian shore – as the setting for its amusing yarn about a middle-aged woman trying to leave her cheating husband. A suitable place for a summer break? Indeed. A seven-night stay at the three-star Hotel Miraggio, leaving Gatwick on July 4, starts at £426pp, via Expedia.co.uk

He won’t personally be blowing out any candles – the old boy has been dead since 1993 – but the coming week will bring a major milestone for Italian cinema’s greatest director. Monday (Jan 20) is the 100th birthday of Federico Fellini – the man behind the camera behind slivers of cinematic silver such as La Strada. How to salute this big-screen genius? Perhaps a long weekend in Rimini (visit-rimini. com). A four-night stay at the four-star Mercure Rimini Lungomare, flying from Stansted to Bologna on April 23, costs from £180pp (lastminute.com).

Fellini’s ghost can be found in Rimini – a city which, although it only really framed the first 18 years of his life, clutches his legacy close. A museum in his honour, run by the Fellini Foundation ( federicofellini.it), is due to open in December. It will explore his career via drawings and costumes – as well as celebrations of his movies.

Fellini returned to Rimini most decisively with Amarcord (1973) – his semi-autobiographical semi-comedy about an adolescent boy growing up on its outskirts during the fascist era. The film made heavy reference to the Grand Hotel, the resort’s 1908-built five-star dame, which was given a gaudy, dreamlike air by a series of fantasy scenes. You can, of course, stay there; double rooms start at €128 (grandhotelrimini.com).

If you want to delve into Fellini’s art as deeply as any film critic, you may want to point your cultured soul towards “Cinema & The Eternal City” – a six-day group tour of Rome that MartinRandall.com has planned for Sep 7-12. The itinerary will assess the capital via movie locations and lectures. From £2,780pp, with flights.