You can absolutely see the Northern Lights,without going on a tour. I have personally seen them in Alaska, before cell phones were common place,and they are impossible to miss with the naked eye, if you are far enough north, a dark sky, and suitable weather conditions. I saw saw them at in a period of almost no solar activity, you are going to be in Norway during the absolute best viewing time possible! You must make seeing the Northern Lights your only "tourist" destination. It is a profound experience, there is nothing comparable. The night I saw them, they only occured for less than a minute, and it incredibly emotional. If I had had a cell phone or a camera with me, I would have missed it completely! I just went quickly on some Norway tourist sites and their only purpose, is to sell services and products. The locals don't take tours, when they have out of town guests, that want to go see local landmarks, no matter what state, city, or country they live in. The only time you would ever need a tour company, is if you don't want to drive and there's no local transportation, or that tour company literally owns the rights to that tourist attraction and that's the only way you can get in. Everything can be done on your own, so much cheaper, and at your own pace. Tour companies are for convenience, not for adventure. My mother and I went from London out to see Stonehenge we took a bus got to sightsee along the way and it cost us literally like 1/50th of what the tour company cost. Talk to the locals, at a coffee shop, or somewhere people have time to spend in conversation. Perhaps even your flight crew will be local, or have some tips or you. But I gleaned just from a quick read on tour sites it's best if you're up above the Arctic circle and inland because the weather patterns are more conducive and seriously look up look North and that's it, they should be everywhere right now. If you use your phone, you'll miss it. You don't need it up that high, you don't need it. I saw the Northern lights when I was working as a flight attendant over Chicago once they were Gray but nobody had a cell phone then so we didn't know that this could be done. Your eyes will be perfectly fine, if you use a camera you will miss it.

You can absolutely see the Northern Lights without going on a tour. I have personally seen them in Alaska, before cell phones were commonplace, and they are impossible to miss with the naked eye if you are far enough north, have a dark sky, and suitable weather conditions.

I saw them during a period of almost no solar activity. You are going to be in Norway during the absolute best viewing time possible!

You must make seeing the Northern Lights your only "tourist" destination. It is a profound experience; there is nothing comparable. The night I saw them, they only occurred for less than a minute, and it was incredibly emotional.

If I had had a cell phone or a camera with me, I would have missed it completely!

I just quickly checked some Norway tourist sites, and their only purpose is to sell services and products. The locals don't take tours when they have out-of-town guests who want to see local landmarks, no matter what state, city, or country they live in. The only time you would ever need a tour company is if you don't want to drive and there's no local transportation, or if that tour company literally owns the rights to that tourist attraction and that's the only way you can get in. Everything can be done on your own, so much cheaper, and at your own pace. Tour companies are for convenience, not for adventure.

My mother and I went from London out to see Stonehenge. We took a bus, got to sightsee along the way, and it cost us literally like 1/50th of what the tour company cost.

Talk to the locals at a coffee shop or somewhere people have time to spend in conversation. Perhaps even your flight crew will be local or have some tips for you.

From a quick read on tour sites, I gleaned that it's best if you're up above the Arctic Circle and inland because the weather patterns are more conducive. Seriously, just look up, look North, and that's it. They should be everywhere right now. If you use your phone, you'll miss it. You don't need it up that high; you don't need it.

I saw the Northern Lights when I was working as a flight attendant over Chicago once. They were gray, but nobody had a cell phone then, so we didn't know that this could be done.

Your eyes will be perfectly fine; if you use a camera, you will miss it.