Is there a rule of thumb by which to estimate the travel time between different locations? It's irritating to arrive just as everyone is shutting up shop. It would be good, also, if there was a simple and clear map to print out and scribble such things on. Sorry to be a pain, but now I've found this place, I have loads of questions, not all of which are Googleable.

I don't know if there's a rule for estimating, but I know that the carriage travel times are fixed. I made myself a handy chart of the time between the various cities. Windhelm to Whiterun, for instance, is about 8.5 hours, while Markarth to Riften is 24. (I don't know how timescale and/or console/PC may affect those numbers.)

Knowing the travel time, one can plan ahead, and leave at the right time to arrive on one's preferred schedule.

I suspect that travel time on foot may depend on encumbrance.

The best thing to do is make yourself a chart.. Use a "test" character.. and carriage ride from one place to another... Fast Travel...boat ride when their is a route.. making sure to keep the times.

I don't have a chart... but I don't travel by carriage or FT much.

I wouldn't use a chart for fast-travel, since I rarely do it, and knowing the trip time would be a disruption of roleplay. But I figure that any of the carriage drivers would know their routes well, and would be able to tell our characters how long a trip would take. They might even post an actual time schedule, as public transportation has been doing for centuries.