Summer Holiday

During a miserably wet summer lunch break at the London Transport works in Aldenham, Don persuades his bosses to lend him and his friends an AEC Regent III RT bus. They convert the vehicle into a mobile home and hatch a plan to drive it across Europe to the South of France.

The group heads off across continental Europe in their converted bus and is joined by the Do-Re-Mi singing trio Sandy, Angie and Mimsie. They decide to change their destination from the South of France to Athens, Greece, setting course for new adventures.

In Paris, they visit a nightclub where Les Shadows perform. A stowaway boy is found on the bus, who is revealed to be Barbara, a runaway girl, adding a new complication to their voyage.

The group encounters mime artist Orlando and discovers he has a large entourage who need accommodation. They reluctantly agree to take them all aboard, increasing the bus’s crowd and chaos.

Barbara's mother tracks them down and has the bus stopped for carrying passengers. In court, a judge offers them release if they can prove they are genuine entertainers, prompting a plan to stage a convincing mime performance.

They perform an elaborate mime show to prove their entertainer status, which ends with an explosion and their escape. Barbara is officially revealed as a girl, and the mime troupe departs.

Mrs Winters and her male driver friend Jerry catch up with the bus in Switzerland. To reduce weight, all passengers disembark except Don and Barbara who continue driving while the others walk.

The bus reaches Austria, where they stop at Hotel zum Schloss for a meal and some dancing. Don and Barbara share a private moment and Don confesses his love for her.

Mrs Winters hides a diamond pendant on the empty bus and convinces Yugoslav authorities that it has been stolen, creating a new complication as they cross borders.

The bus is stopped by border guards who find the pendant, but a locket bearing Barbara’s picture leads them to return the bus and its contents, avoiding a harsher outcome.

A shepherdess in a Yugoslav village misinterprets Don’s words, triggering a makeshift wedding ceremony. The boys manage to escape the crowd and race back to the bus.

They arrive in Athens to a large crowd and press coverage. Wrightmore from the British embassy explains the situation and Mrs Winters arrives on the scene, hoping to capitalize on the publicity.

Don goes to a hill overlooking the Acropolis to clear his head as Mrs Winters locks Barbara in a hotel room during a tense press conference. The standoff builds as media attention intensifies.

Don finds Barbara and asks her to marry him. She escapes for a moment, then publicly announces their engagement at a press conference. Don hints at starting a holiday firm operating 200 buses, and the troupe appears forgiven and hopeful.