Is English well spoken in Italy?

I don’t know how many speak English, nor do I know how well they speak it. I doubt if anyone could give you more than anecdotal evidence about it. I am pretty sure of one thing, though. Those who do speak English almost universally speak it with an Italian accent.

I thought we answered your original question before veering slightly off-topic, but let’s try again…

In my experience, not that many people speak it. My landlady (who was a school teacher) didn’t speak a word, and neither did any of her friends.

People who work in touristy places will most likely speak at least some English. How well is a matter of luck: some will barely be able to communicate, others will speak it very well (but yes, as @wundayatta, with a pretty heavy accent in most cases).

Again, I’d recommend you learn some basic phrases.

According to Wikipedia, English is not very popular in Southern Europe (which includes Italy). I’d say their 20–29% figure is a fair estimate.

I vacationed in Rome about 5 years ago and my traveling companion insisted that “everyone” in Italy spoke English, but I was not so certain. I did some rudimentary Italian language study before our trip, she did not. I fared a lot better than she did. That’s all I know. I don’t think anyone should travel to a non-English speaking country and simply assume that everyone they need to communicate with with will speak English. Nor should any speaker of any language assume that they will get by without learning at least the basics of the language of the country they are traveling tool

Edit: I suppose I would defer to Europeans who travel through Europe, they may be better qualified to to say what language skills you might need to travel in Europe. And the rest of of the world? I have no clue. It just seems that some knowledge of the native language when traveling is a lot better than none.

The one true Italian I met spoke excellent English, much better than a lot of Americans, but this person was also highly educated.

Not so much as other European countries. Farther north in the bigger cites and at some touristy spots english is spoken, but in the south, not so much. My third day in Italy I went to Capri. I did not meet anyone who spoke English, either in the port city of Meregellina where I got tickets on the boat to the island, or on the island itself.
I’ve never tried this before, here are a couple of my favorite shots of this beautiful island.

No. English is not spoken commonly or well in Italy except in the most touresty of places or the big cities. If you are traveling in Italy and want to communicate, @bob_ is right. Learn a few phrases. I’m sure you can download some podcasts. I got my way through France by listening to Coffee Break French, a free podcast.

I second @bob_‘s assessment.

A lot of the younger people speak it about as well as our youth here speak Spanish. A lot of the older people don’t, unless they learned for business and such. And a lot of the much older people won’t necessarily speak ‘proper’ Italian, either. At the same time, many large cities actually have decent-sized communities of English-speaking expats and long-term tourists.
If you really needing to communicate, there are enough English speakers. Educational institutions, hospitals, government offices, and the like will usually have at least one fluent speaker. Most of the churches that I’ve visited were also large enough to include an English-speaker or five though as @Trillian pointed out, there will be more in the North than farther South.

Should you find yourself in Italy, I strongly recommend that you track down a dictionary and phrasebook, and that you keep them on you at all times.

I vacationed in Italy and visited Venice, Florence and Rome. I spent three months beforehand learning enough Italian to ask for directions. It came in handy. I always started speaking in Italian. Those who knew English immediately switched to English (accent, me?). It seemed to me that there was about a 50% chance the person knew English.

I don’t remember hearing any English while in Italy.

Why would they? You are the visitor.

I spoke to my friend who lives in Italy and is 100% Italian and the answer is no.