[Countrywide] Midnight sun without a tour: where are the easiest places to experience it (and what time window works best)?

I’ve done the midnight sun in northern Norway without a tour, and honestly you don’t need to go full Arctic Circle panic mode to feel it — places like Tromsø felt completely doable on your own from what I’ve seen. My strong take is that chasing “the perfect viewpoint” is overrated; a simple waterfront bench with coffee access beats a windy mountain pull-off at 12:43 a.m. every time. For a first-timer, I’d say stick close to town where there’s flat ground, bathrooms still open, and the option to duck inside if the temperature drops. The light felt most magical for me between about 12:15 and 1:00, when your brain fully realizes the sun is refusing to cooperate with bedtime. For photos, I skipped the tripod and just leaned my phone on a railing — not gallery-quality, but very real. but there’s a nuance… clouds can absolutely wreck the drama, so having a short coastal drive as backup made the night feel less like a gamble. Also, the whole “no expensive tour” thing works best if you accept that comfort is part of the experience, not cheating. Where did it peak for you time-wise, and did anyone actually enjoy a remote viewpoint more than a town-based one?