Hello everyone!

Spoilers...

How much time is between the two games?

For the longest while I assumed that BG2 takes place right after the first one. I thought that maybe a few days passes by at most. But then I started thinking about all of the connections presented in the second game. Athkatla is far south from BG. You would need to raise enough money for supplies, security, and a few other things. When you meet the characters from BG1 they've been active for some time, implying they didn't just get there.

- Quayle found Aerie and the both of them either start or join the circus in Waukeen's Promenade

- Edwin has infiltrated the Shadow Thieves and traded his dashing looks for a beard

- Xzar and Montaron are operating in the docks district, and Xzar has his own pupils and conducted various experiments

- Tazok was resurrected and is Firkraag's lieutenant

That's not all of them but you probably get the idea by now. Also, why did Jaheira dye her hair? She was brunette in the first game and blonde in the other. Her whereabouts are known to you and your captor, but to the outside world (including her treacherous Harper kin!) she's a missing person. Irenicus doesn't have a reason to do that and she's not in a position where she can dye her own hair.

It's never stated explicitly, though if you ever play BGT the time (between) is non existent, as it's a fluent follow on.

If you listen to the narrator at the start of BG2, he says "You were the hero of Baldur's Gate, but some suspected you shared the same lineage as Sarevok. You departed soon after, under circumstances much darker than anyone would have believed. They came as you rested. Figures cloaked in mist..." Which ties in beautifully with the BGT follow through.

So... soon after.

I always assumed a few months passed between the two games, but there is no clear official timeline AFAIK.