A guide to Fantasy travel times

Apr 25, 2025

One of the most overlooked yet essential aspects of writing or enjoying fantasy fiction is travel time. The distance between places, and how long it takes to cross it, matters more than you might think.

This guide breaks down common travel methods in fantasy worlds and what you can reasonably expect to happen in an hour, giving you a realistic framework to anchor your imaginary adventures.

Why Distance and Time is Important in Fantasy?

In fantasy, travel isn't just a way to get from one plot point to another, it's a storytelling device. It shapes the narrative pace, builds tension, and deepens the world. Time and distance affect logistics: how fast armies move, how long it takes news to spread, how isolated a village is from the capital, and whether your rogue can realistically sneak across the kingdom in a night.

Neglecting realistic travel times when you're creating a fantasy map can make a world feel hollow or inconsistent. On the other hand, even loosely grounding your world’s distances in something believable can make it feel rich and alive. Of course, magic and fantasy creatures can bend the rules, but it’s good to know the rules before you break them.

One Hour of Walking

Walking is the bread-and-butter mode of transportation in most fantasy settings, especially for common folk or humble adventurers. Terrain, weather, and fitness level all matter, but here’s a basic breakdown.

Normal pace

At a standard walking speed of about 3 miles per hour (5 km/h), an adult on a well-trodden path will cover:

Flat land: ~3 miles (~5 km)
Rolling hills or rough terrain: ~2 miles (~3 km)
Dense forest or marshland: ~1-1.5 miles (~1.5-2.5 km)

This is assuming the person is not overloaded and has a decent level of fitness.

Fast pace

If someone is walking briskly, maybe trying to catch up to someone or race daylight:

Speed: 4-5 miles/hour (6.5-8 km/h)
Sustainability: Can be kept up for a couple of hours before fatigue sets in.
Trade-off: Faster travel, but with more risk of exhaustion or injury.

Fast walking can let a courier shave time off a journey or allow a desperate character to reach help just in time.

Children

Kids are slower, get tired more quickly, and are more distracted.

Young child (5–10): ~1.5 miles/hour (2.5 km/h)
Teenagers: ~2-3 miles/hour (3-5 km/h) depending on fitness and motivation

Traveling with children dramatically affects pace, and it’s a great way to reflect the realities of a caravan or family on the move.

One Hour of Horseback

Horses are the elite upgrade from walking in most medieval-style fantasy. But not all horse travel is galloping across open plains.

Normal pace

A horse walking or trotting casually travels about:

Walk: ~4 miles/hour (6,5 km/h)
Trot: ~8 miles/hour (13 km/h), though this can be jostling for the rider

This pace is comfortable, sustainable, and doesn’t overwork the animal.

Fast pace

Now we’re talking canters and gallops.

Canter: 10-17 miles/hour (16-27 km/h), sustainable for a while
Gallop: Up to 25-30 miles/hour (40-48 km/h), but only for a few minutes

A horse might cover 10 miles in an hour if pushed hard and rested afterward, but that isn’t something they can do repeatedly without injury. Endurance breeds (like fantasy versions of Arabians or mustangs) might go a bit further.

One Hour of Carriage

Carriages, wagons, and carts are trickier. They’re limited by road quality and the condition of their draft animals.

Average speed: 5-8 miles/hour (8-13 km/h) on good roads
Poor roads or muddy trails: 2-4 miles/hour (3-6 km/h)

Heavily loaded wagons, merchant caravans, or royal carriages need time. Frequent stops, mechanical breakdowns, and tired horses all add to the realism—and drama—of a long journey.

One Hour of Coal Train

In steampunk or industrial fantasy, trains are the arteries of civilization.

Early coal trains: 20-30 miles/hour (32-48 km/h)
Magically enhanced trains: Who knows? But they should still obey some kind of logic or resource limitation

In one hour, a coal train might connect distant cities or cut across a dangerous wilderness, turning a perilous week-long journey into a one-hour ride—at a cost.

One Hour of Flying

Flying opens up fantasy like nothing else. Whether it's by dragonback, griffin, airship, or spell, it radically shifts how you think about geography.

With a fantasy creature

Flying mythical creatures vary wildly in size, stamina, and flight style. Here are some loose estimates:

Small flyer (pegasus, giant eagle): ~40-60 miles/hour (65-95 km/h)
Large flyer (dragon, roc): ~60-100 miles/hour (95-160 km/h), possibly more with tailwinds or magic
Sustained flight time: Depends on size and training. An untrained mount might tire in 20 minutes. A bonded one could fly for hours.

Don’t forget: altitude, storms, enemy archers, or exhaustion can limit flights, adding risk and realism.

Other

Airships, floating platforms, or even magical teleportation devices fall here.

Airships: 20-40 miles/hour (32-64 km/h), depending on wind and engine
Teleportation: Instant, but often comes with magical costs or risks
Levitation or glide spells: Slow and short-ranged, usually more dramatic than practical

Other Modes of Transport in Fantasy

Fantasy worlds are defined by their creativity, and that extends to transport.

Portal gates: Allow instant travel across continents, but might be unstable, rare, or corrupted.
Underground tunnels: Slow and claustrophobic, but immune to weather and aerial threats.
Magical beasts (giant turtles, moving cities): These move slowly, but carry entire civilizations.
Floating islands or castles: Travel by gravity-defying structures—majestic, but often political and unpredictable.
Time warps or dimensional shortcuts: May let a journey take "one hour" while days pass outside, or vice versa.

Each of these methods is more than a shortcut—they can become worldbuilding set pieces in themselves.