In The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3, Steven and Denise travel by train to New York for a conference.
The trip takes place in episode 5, “Last Dance.” Steven and Denise are planning to attend the same conference, so they take the train together. During the journey, they bond over video games and their career goals, giving their relationship more room to develop away from Cousins Beach.
The episode also follows Conrad helping Belly with wedding preparations while Jeremiah is delayed at Adam’s firm. Steven and Denise’s train journey therefore forms a parallel storyline about work, ambition, and unexpected closeness.
New York is easy to confuse with Paris, where Belly later studies and builds a new life, or San Francisco, which becomes important to Steven and Taylor’s future plans. The train trip itself is specifically to New York.