I haven’t ever been in Europe for longer than a week or so, but in case you’re interested, the Netherlands is particularly good as (in my experience, anyway!) Dutch people do tend to know English. I also went to Berlin recently and most (though not all) people did speak English, at least a little.

Any metroploitan city in Europe will be fairly easy to navigate in English. English is the default international option, so any area catering to tourists will likely have a lot of English speaking people and signs.

I’ve lived abroad several times in countries where I did not speak the language and have never had big problems getting around or connecting with people. Language classes when you get to the country are helpful(and a great way to meet people), but the Internet and some decent miming skills will take you a long way. Look for expat communities on the Internet before you get there. There are large, organized English speaking expat communites all over the world and it’s a great way to meet people who can show you around and help you get comfortable. Don’t worry about the language and focus on what other things you want out of the trip.

I agree with the others, you shouldn’t have a problem. One thing you should do though, is try to learn the language — when I was last travelling I found listening to pod casts was great, and easy to do while you were on trains, planes etc. The most important word you’ll need is excuse me. The German is “entschuldigung,” which takes some practice.

When will you be there? I’m going to be in Italy in mid-December (Rome, Florence, Venice), and Munich just before New Years.

If you want to go north, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland are essentially bilingual countries… most people you meet will be fluent and the ones who aren’t can still speak conversational English. They are kind of expensive though, especially Norway. Sweden is a little cheaper than Denmark.

Germany in the cities is fine… touristy parts of Italy are fine, though I do tend to notice Italians are a LOT nicer to you if you try and speak to them in Italian first, even if your Italian is super shitty.