According to http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/west/12/FC81, it took 3 months to get from Portugal to India. "Portugal's king died, and the transition to a new king meant it was ten years before the Portuguese could send Vasco da Gama with four ships to sail to India. Swinging west to pick up westerly winds, da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in three months, losing one ship in the process. Heading up the coast, the Portuguese encountered Arab surprise and hostility against European ships in their waters. Da Gama found an Indian pilot who led the Portuguese flotilla across the Indian Ocean to India in 1498. The hostility of the Arab traders who dominated trade with India and the unwillingness of the Indians to trade for European goods which they saw as inferior made getting spices quite difficult. However, through some shrewd trading, da Gama managed to get one shipload of spices and then headed home in August 1498. It took over a year, until September 1499, to get back to Portugal, but he had proven that Africa could be circumnavigated and India could be reached by sea. Despite its heavy cost (two of four ships and 126 out of 170 men) Da Gama's voyage opened up new vistas of trade and knowledge to Europeans." The first English voyage to India took more than a year in sailing time (http://www.fathom.com/course/21701760/session1.html): "The first voyage leaves in February 1601, and like all the early voyages it's intended for Indonesia, for pepper and fine spices. They have quite a horrendous journey though. They are becalmed on the Equator, it takes them a long time to get down to the Cape of Good Hope. By the time the four ships, which have got 500 men on board, get to the tip of South Africa, 100 of them are already dead. They make a couple of landfalls for provisions, including Madagascar, and then their first Asian port is at the tip of Sumatra. Eventually they reach Bantam in 1602, and leave behind a small group of merchants and assistants."