Itinerary in Nikko from Tokyo

We want to see one shrine and mostly nature and waterfalls. Could somebody please help us plan out our itinerary within Nikko as we only have one day there coming from Ueno and back again on the same day. Also, we have JR passes, can we use it to go to NIkko?

Thank you so much and I hope to hear from somebody soon.

Btw we are leaving second week of August 2017.

If you have a JR Pass, then take a Shinkansen from Ueno to Utsunomiya. Then transfer onto a Nikko Line train which will take you to Nikko station. Both rides are covered by JR Pass.

At Nikko station reservation/ticketing booth (not the tourist information desk) buy a bus pass that covers both the World Heritage Site (the Toshogu Shrine) and the water fall. It's the second cheapest pass (there are two more expensive passes, but you don't need them). The bus stop is right in front of the train station. One bus goes near the shrines and back to the station. The second bus goes in the same direction as the first, but goes further to the Kegon Falls. The second bus has a stop near the shrines, but it is not as close to the shrines as the first bus.

I took the first bus to the shrines, then took the same bus back to the station. Then boarded the second bus to go to the Kegon Falls. If you want to walk a lot, I suppose you could walk from the shrines to the bus stop where the second bus stops.

I visited 2 shrines (2 more were being restored) in the morning, and visited the falls in the afternoon. Near the falls, there is a lake and another temple you can visit, also. Start early in the morning and you will have no problem doing all that and return to Tokyo the same evening.