I am planning to visit Austria and Venice, if I can only speak English and not familiar with Europe countries at all, will I have trouble finding my way in the cities or go between the cities without joining a guided tour?

Are Vienna, Salzburg and Venice safe?

Hundreds/thousands of travelers visit these cities/countries every month of the year - - and many speak only English, or only Arabic, or only Portuguese or (substitute some other language) - - and they "get by" fairly well.

On the flip side, I submit that they miss so, SO much by not having found an opportunity to learn as much of the language (in either country) as possible.

If these are your only three destinations, then you might do best to try concentrating (only) on learning some German. Venice is far more likely to be accommodating to travelers who do not speak Italian.

When are you traveling? Learning ten words a day, 300 words in a month is not an unreasonable goal.

Today would be a good day to start.

Best wishes,

Rex

Such wise advice from Rex. I've found that a little study and some language tapes, plus a lot of college training in the Russian language, now allow me to get around Europe with a reasonable knowledge of German, Italian, French, Russian, and of course English. I don't advise you to try everything at once, but take some time as advised by Rex. For this trip, learn some German. For your next trip, go to Italy or France and learn some of their languages. You'll be surprised at the reception you'll get when people know you are trying to communicate in their own language. There is nothing uglier than the ugly American who walks up to a resident of a foreign country and just starts asking questions without so much as a "pardon me" or "can you help me" or any one of a dozen other phrases that can be easily learned.

topping... for this (kinda) newbie...

... and thanks for the kind remarks, Wayne...

You will find Salzburg and Vienna easy.
Quite a bit of English is spoken in Salzburg because of the huge number of American tourists there.

Many people in Vienna seem to know English as well, although not everywhere. At places like Schönbrunn Palace the guides wear badges that list the languages they speak. English is one of many languages spoken there and most of the guides are at least tri lingual. I have seen combinations like German, Hungarian, and Turkish, or German, Russian, and Hungarian.
There was one lady whose badge listed German, Italian, and French. She spoke to us in English when I was trying to decide which tour to take.

In Salzburg, we took a tour of the Festspielhaus. The guide started in English and German. After a the second speil, the German speakers told her she need not repeat her presentation in German. They had no trouble with the English. I must admit that her diction in English was crystal clear.

I have found that 'Hello', 'Good Bye', 'Thank You' and 'You're Welcome' in the local language go a long way towards being welcome.

The rest is for convenience.

Thanks for all your advices. I start learning some basic phrases today.

I am planning to take train to travel between the cities.

Do you know of any reliable local tour operators in these cities Vienna, Salzburg and Venice?

I'm still debating whether to tour the cities on our own or go with a tour guide.

Please advise.

Thanks.

Well, I knew what I wanted to see in Vienna and Salzburg and went to see them.
The one mistake I made was the Sound of Money [Music] Tour. I won the "Sucker of the Year" award for that one.
I thought it would provide me with convenience. It didn't.

I think Vienna requires that you have a good map. Places like the Hofburg and Schönbrunn Palace offer audio guide and they are quite good. I know at Schönbrunn we could stop, look, and replay the lecture. If we had questions, there were people there to answer them.

The Rough Guide to Vienna is very thorough and if you do even half of what is in it, you will be there a long time.

I always find that much of the interest in visiting a city like that is to find places on my on. But, if time is limited, then take the tour.

I did Venice on my on to, but that was a different set of circumstances. There were several of us and I tagged along with the group.