[PvK]

The ability to hop over even one province wouldn't make sense. Seems to me Gandalf is on the right track. Provinces that are supposed to be easier to travel across should be larger on the map in the directions where travel is easy (e.g. along a road), and narrower where travel is slower. A good straight road could involve a long and relatively thin province, so that travel along the road would cover more distance.

PvK