I was reading the book of Giancarlo Casale, The Ottoman Age of Exploration, which tries to examine Ottoman point of view during the age of exploration. The book is rather interesting but my question is about the below passage from the book:
"Despite extensive and seemingly conclusive evidence to the contrary, it remains a stubbornly entrenched belief among many modern historians that the Portuguese Cape route to India was inherently cheaper and faster than any alternative and therefore permanently superseded the traditional transit route through Egypt and the Red Sea."
I am surprised to read that because I thought the Cape route was indeed faster.
The cost of moving cargo by sea around the Cape of Good Hope to Europe was much less than the cost of moving cargo overland. The cost of moving a ton of cargo 30 miles overland, was roughly equivalent to the cost of moving a ton of cargo 3,000 miles by ship.
https://people.hofstra.edu/GEOTRANS/eng/ch2en/conc2en/ch2c1en.html
To this basic economic advantage of a ship with a small crew being able to move cargo much more cheaply over oceans than many men, animals, wagons, being able to move cargo overland, was added the considerable consideration that the (partially) overland route was taxed by multiple middle-men (primarily, Ottomans, Mamluks, Venetians) before arriving in western Europe, whereas the sea route avoided these taxes and tolls.
Although the sea route around the Cape was slower than the route through the Mediterranean, (It took about 6 months in each direction, with large variability, and some time in India to acquire and load cargo) it was much less expensive.
In the 17th century, the Portuguese shipped about 1300 tons of spices to Europe from India every year. This was about the same amount as had shipped through Venice previously. Some spices (about 600 tons a year) still shipped through Venice, as the demand for spices increased as the price dropped. Middle-men on the Mediterranean route had to lower their taxes and tolls to remain somewhat competitive against the Portuguese, and still lost major market share.
http://www.theworldeconomy.org/impact/Portugal_s_major_advantages.html
Are you asking about land routes vs water routes? For an individual travelling without a lot of luggage, the overland route would definitely be quicker. But land travel is limited to what draft animals can carry at any one time; ships can carry several camel trains worth of equipment.