On my current map I just took that northern coast-town in a cool temperate climate and the southern coast that is supposed to be where it's really subtropically warm. And then I checked some random site on the Internet for the distance between Hamburg, Germany and Tunis, Tunisia (that just happen to lie on exactly the same longitude) = 1800 km. And so I had my scale.
Let's see if I find another few good examples... Bristol (directly west of London, UK) to Madrid, Spain: 1230 km (765 miles)
Similar: From Chicago straight south to the Gulf of Mexico (Pensacola): 1261 km or 784 miles. (Hong Kong to Beijing is just about the same, too, just for some cultural diversity in what twelvehundretsomething km can be.)
So much about the big distances, you can break it down from there.
Areas:
I often find it difficult to get a feeling for the right sizes of islands. Thus for comparison, I check Wikipedia. Good points of reference are:
Crete: 8,336 km² (3,219 sq mi)
Sicily: 25,711 km² (9,927 sq mi)
Ireland: 84,421 km² (32,595.1 sq mi)
Britain (the isle): 229,848 km² (88,744.8 sq mi)
Japan: 377,944 km² (145,925 sq mi)
Iberian Peninsula (not an Island but still): 581,471.1 km² (224,507.25 sq mi)
Australia: 7,692,024 km² (2,969,907 sq mi)
Distances: Well, if it's approximately rectangular, the distance is area / the other side. If its approximately a circle, the diameter is twice the root of (area / Pi).
And finally Population density. Yes, I have my own lookup table there, too. (Source: Maddison Project)
The area of todays nation of Germany (357,021 km² or 137,847 sq mi) had:
Year 1: 3,000,000
Year 1000: 3,500,000 (sounds a bit low - or a bit 8th century to me but whatever)
Year 1500: 12,000,000
Year 1600: 16,000,000
Year 1700: 15,000,000
... people.
The today United Kingdom (compare Great Britain above)
Year 1: 800,000
Year 1000: 2,000,000
Year 1500: 3,942,000
Year 1600: 6,170,000
Year 1700: 8,565,000
The today nations Spain + Portugal (compare Iberian Penisula)
Year 1: 3,750,000 + 400,000 = 4,150,000
Year 1000: 4,000,000 + 600,000 = 4,600,000
Year 1500: 6,800,000 + 1,000,000 = 7,800,000
Year 1600: 8,240,000 + 1,100,000 = 9,340,000
Year 1700: 8,770,000 + 2,000,000 = 10,770,000
And Norway (to show that climate really matters - 385,186 km² or 148,720 sq mi)
Year 1: 100,000
Year 1000: 200,000
Year 1500: 300,000
Year 1600: 400,000
Year 1700: 500,000
Now about traveling speed, I often find that difficult, too. There are really lots of factors involved (horses?, terrain?, streets?, fitness?).
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