Goofs

During take-off, the PAN AM plane shown is a cargo plane, with no windows. In the next scene, Clark sits in a window seat.

The first time the Griswalds drive their yellow Austin Maxi, Clark drives on the wrong side of the road and hits another car. The yellow Maxi's left front fender is badly damaged. In subsequent shots, the damage is much less severe.

When the Griswalds are stuck on the traffic island near Parliament and Big Ben, the long shot shows a Chrysler 180 hitting their Austin Maxi. In a close-up the other car is a Morris Ital.

When Clark bursts into the cockpit and pushes the pilot forward into the controls sending the plane into a steep dive the altimeter on the control panel remains still and is not showing that the altitude is decreasing.

When Clark mixes up the English hotel rooms, the door on the left leads to the lobby; the one on the right leads to the strange woman. After he meets the strange woman, he runs out and meets Ellen in the hallway, but he emerges from the lobby door, not the strange woman's door.

Rusty suggests the family go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. When the Griswalds are at the tower, the down arrow in the background means they are clearly on either the second or first level. The elevator is the only way to the top, and the observation deck is not that big.

During Ellen's dream on the plane of the Queen's reception the guests are greeting the Queen, Princess Diana, and Prince Charles and then turning away. You always face the Queen and never turn your back to royalty in the United Kingdom.

This takes place during Ellen's dream, which does not represent reality. Ellen would likely not know what the proper protocol is, and the dream also shows the unrealistic scenario of the Griswalds having a casual friendship with the royals including Diana's secret love interest in Clark.

Clark calls the street in Germany "Dipplestrabe" with a B sound. In reality, the German character which looks something like a B, called an eszett or scharfes-S, represents a sound "ss."

This is deliberate to demonstrate the ignorance of the Griswald family.

In the Paris hotel room, Clark flops onto the bed and falls off. He quickly gets up and sits on the side when Rusty appears to talk about acclimating to France. Suddenly out of nowhere, Clark produces a set of berets from behind him for the family to wear.

During the chase scene, when Clark jumps into the car from the bicycle, the bicycle remains straight, as if it were attached to the car.

When Chevy Chase accidentally hits Eric Idle's leg on the revolving door, Idle screams in pain well before the door hits his leg.

The chase scene uses obvious stunt doubles for Clark chasing after the bad guys on the bicycle and in the car, and the bad guys in their car.

Visitors to Stonehenge are not allowed to get near the stones and can only see them from a distance, so Clark could not have caused the destruction that he did in reality.

In the beginning, the plastic container of lighter fluid makes a metallic sound when Clark and Ellen squeeze it.

The Griswalds stay in a very tiny hotel room. When the camera pans up towards the ceiling, the set structure holding up the wall and ceiling are visible.

When Audrey calls Jack from the London hotel, she dials 7 numbers before Jack answers. Calling the US from the UK requires 13 numbers (001 + Area Code + 7-digit number).

When the plane passes the Statue of Liberty, the passengers look out the window on the left, but the view shown is on the right side.

When the Griswalds abandon their car in Germany, they also abandoned their luggage. Yet when they are on the train, they have changed clothes.

The "Pig In a Poke" announcer says they won a "supercharged Honda 750 motorcycle." The motorcycle shown is a Honda Rebel 250.

The "Pig in a Poke" host asks the Griswalds about the leader of the 1804 American Expedition, leading them with "What lieutenant led that expedition?" Ellen inadvertently answers by saying Clark's name. The actual answer is "Lewis," who was a captain. William Clark was also a captain, but Meriwether Lewis was the leader, and Clark was a follower. Therefore, the Griswalds would've gotten the answer wrong.

While reading the Pig in a Poke itinerary on the flight to London, Clark is holding it upside down.

When the Griswalds are getting their picture taken in front of the fountain, as Clark is showing the thief how to use the camera, the thief's shirt has bunched up at the bottom. You can see Clark straighten his shirt as he moves around to the front of him.

When Kent asks Clark about the pyramidal tracts, he and Clark pronounce it correctly. Mr. Froeger pronounces it para-Mid-e-ul.

This may be intentional to show Mr. Froeger trying to show off his intelligence.