A self-guided route you drive or walk, in your own car, on your own day.
Researched, not yet driven
The Summer I Turned Pretty from downtown to the end of the island: the Cotton Exchange, the Oceanic on Crystal Pier, the Carolina Beach boardwalk and the Fort Fisher beach.
All of them, free to read. The app sorts them as you go. With The Week ›
Edward Orde, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons01The scene
The tourism office's guide to the show, from June 2026, gives the Cotton Exchange as the backdrop for the young Belly and Conrad in season three, and the crew was reported filming here in June 2024 with Front Street closed. It is a row of old warehouses turned into shops, open to walk through.
321 N Front St, Wilmington, NC
DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons02The scene
The Oceanic restaurant sits at the foot of Crystal Pier, and the state and the local tourism offices both put Belly and Jeremiah's engagement announcement inside it, with Conrad ending up outside on his own. The local office adds that Taylor and Belly walk the beach near the pier. The restaurant is a working one; the pier and the beach beside it are the stop.
The Week
Every stop is free to read here. The Week guides you through it on the day. Across 38 mi of driving, it keeps the nearest stop next, even with no signal. It covers both routes.
$9 for 7 days · One payment, nothing renews.
Your seven days start in town, when you press Start the day on a paid route or arrive at one of its stops.
Get the Week in the app, $9
It starts at The Cotton Exchange, 321 N Front St, Wilmington, NC and ends at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd S, Kure Beach, NC. The stops are ordered so the route does not double back.
1h 15m driving between 5 stops, covering 38 miles. That is the measured travel alone. How long you stay at each stop is up to you.
The locations, the order and what was filmed at each are free to read on this page. The Week covers carrying the route in the app, which sorts the stops by how far away you are, tells you when you have arrived while it is open, and keeps its map and photographs when there is no signal.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, across 5 locations in and around Wilmington.
703 S Lumina Ave, Wrightsville Beach, NC
DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons03The scene
The tourism offices put the group's summer rides and nights out in season two on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk, the outside of the arcade included. The arcade inside and the go-karts are somewhere else, at Jungle Rapids in Wilmington. The Fat Pelican, where Laurel and Susannah stop in season one, is a bar a short walk inland and not a stop.
Carolina Beach Ave N at Pavilion Ave, Carolina Beach, NC
Eric T. Gunther, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons04The scene
This beach has the night bonfire of season one and, in season two, the snow on the sand for Belly and Conrad. It is a state recreation area with a long open beach, and real bonfires are not allowed.
1000 Loggerhead Rd, Kure Beach, NC
Staniulis, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons05The scene
Cam and Belly ride bikes near the Fort Fisher Monument parking area in season one. The grassy mounds are what is left of the Civil War fort; the pin is the 1921 monument.
1610 Fort Fisher Blvd S, Kure Beach, NC
Inside