NIN tours- do these make visiting super easy/convenient over DIY?

I booked on my own (several years ago, so my experience isn't recent). It was significantly cheaper than booking the package, but it did involve a bit of research and figuring stuff out. It wasn't terribly difficult, but YMMV.

I used the NIN website to help me plan (I had to do a dummy booking that I didn't complete in order to see all the details). I also found a couple of blogs where people described what to do. But if your main goal is easy, then it is probably easier to book the package.

I booked my NIN on my own following the route/schedule listed on the package deal site. It's not hard but requires a bit of planning so you buy tickets before they're sold out (possible if you're going in August). You can price it out to see if the savings of doing it yourself outweighs the convenience of purchasing as a package. At the time I did it I think I saved about 25% on cost but that was many years ago, YMMV.

You will have plenty of airport options if you fly out of a hub like ORD or IAH - likely through Copenhagen or Amsterdam which have zillions of easy flights to Scandinavian cities. I'd fly in to one city and home from another so you don't have to backtrack. Depends on the itinerary you select.

I've flown ORD to Copenhagen multiple times with SAS. Differing experiences with SAS, the most negative including change of planes meaning loss of PE seating and a canceled ORD return flight both in 2023, but I find Kastrup a reasonably easy airport to manage. In my most recent 2023 trip, we also flew from Kastrup to Oslo and back from Bergen to Kastrup. Numerous airline options. Despite my "issues" with SAS, I will probably fly them ORD - Copenhagen next time I'm headed to Scandinavia. Nothing is ever ideal.......

I have no experience with connections from IAH or STL.

We did the NIN package this past August. When we booked, my mom had just passed and I was not up to doing all the stuff myself and this worked out great for us. I didn't want to think, just do.

We had 10 days and started in Oslo, then to Stavanger, then to Bergen and back to Oslo. The only thing I would have changed about our trip was to look carefully at when the cruise ships are in port in both Stavanger and Flam. The day awe were in Flam, there was a monster of a cruise ship and you could not see the fjord. SOOOOO many people too ass this ship had over 6k people. It was not pleasant by any means. We had bene there back in 2015 and no cruise ships there, and it was wonderful. In Stavanger, there was another monster cruise ship on the day we were leaving, and again, sooooo many people! We skedaddled out of that area to another part of town that was away from all that. In Bergen there were two cruises in port, so the day was busy, but the harbor is so big that the cruise ships don't detract from any views. It was very pleasant in the evening when everyone was gone.

NIN is easy to navigate, and you can book your own hotels, which is what we did. We also booked excursions such as kayaking through it, which was nice.

We were back in Iceland two weeks after this trip:)

I did my own bookings in 2022. It took a while to research the various schedules, but I'd have wanted to do that anyway even if I had decided to buy a package. The actual ticket purchases were very simple. With the ground you want to cover, I don't see that you have time to spend a night somewhere along the way, which somewhat simplifies things. There just aren't that many departures of the various transportation segments to choose from.

In case it helps, these are the components and how I booked them. I was traveling from Oslo toward Bergen. You might choose to reverse that path; just check to be sure the schedules fit together for you. You may be able to get a connecting flight into Bergen. Finishing your Norwegian itinerary in Oslo may better position you to move on to your next destination.

• Regular train Oslo to Myrdal: Buy from vy.no. You'll probably have to use PayPal for payment. Fares vary; you'll save money by buying early. And these trains can sell out.

• Flamsbana train Myrdal to Flam: Buy from vy.no. At the time of my trip, one just bought a through ticket from Oslo to Flam. (There's no reason to spend unnecessary time in Myrdal.) I understand you can now buy the Flamsbana ticket separately, through vy.no, but I don't know why one would want to. I think the (relatively high) price of this ticket does not vary, but the trains can sell out.

• Naeroyfjord Ferry Flam to Gudvangen. There are two companies offering this trip, with a total of 5 or 6 departures per day. I bought my ticket on Fjord Line from NorwaysBest.com, the company that sells the complete NiN packages.

• Bus 950 from Gudvangen up to Voss. I just paid the driver, which I assume you can still do. There may now be a way to buy a ticket online. I have never read even one report about the buses being full.

• Regular train from Voss to Bergen: Buy ticket from vy.no. This is a regular train without assigned seats as far as I know. I don't think it can sell out. Unless I'm mistaken, there's no reason to buy the ticket ahead of time. I think the fare is fixed.

Last year we planned our own 18 days in Norway. We rented a car for 15 of those days, and we are happy we did. It enabled us to see a lot of the interior of Norway that we couldn't have if we had relied on public transportation.