In November, London switches its Christmas lights on one street at a time, sends a pageant down the Thames for its new Lord Mayor and hosts New Zealand at Twickenham. You'll come for one of those. The coffee is the ulterior motive.

West End Christmas lights, 4 to 12 November

The West End switch-ons ↗ take a week to work through. Carnaby Street goes first on Wednesday 4 November, in full 90s nostalgia under 'Press Play on Christmas'. Regent Street follows the next night: the 'Spirits of Christmas' angels are back for a tenth year 'with a secret twist', and the street closes to traffic for the switch-on. Covent Garden and Seven Dials light about 30,000 LEDs on Thursday 12 November. Oxford Street hasn't confirmed its date yet.

Plan around the Seven Dials night, because two of London's best counters sit within a minute of it. Monmouth Coffee Company is the roastery that set the city's specialty standard, and decades on it still has a queue down a Covent Garden side street. It buys direct from named farms, estates and cooperatives, prints tasting notes for every coffee on the counter, and gives you the producer's name with your cup. A couple of streets over, WatchHouse Seven Dials pours what its own South London Coffee Lab roasts. Order the filter, then ask what's on the seasonal espresso: the tasting notes on that menu actually tell you something. Take your cup in the afternoon and stay on for the lights.

Lord Mayor's Show, Saturday 14 November

The Lord Mayor's Show ↗ goes back to the river this year. A Thames pageant leaves Westminster at 8:30am, then at 11am the land procession sets off from Mansion House, winds through the City to the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, and comes back again. It's free and it's in the street: one day a year when the Square Mile throws a parade for itself.

The procession turns at the Royal Courts, on the edge of Covent Garden, and from there Qima Café and Pâtisserie is a short walk. Qima roasts its own coffee, buys directly from the farmers who grow it, and puts tasting notes on the menu, with staff who talk you through origins at the counter. Order from the Revolutionary range, single-origin lots you won't find on another menu in London, then walk back for the return leg.

EFG London Jazz Festival, 13 to 22 November

Ten days, more than 60 venues, the 34th edition. The EFG London Jazz Festival ↗ spreads Samara Joy, Fatoumata Diawara, Goldie and Melody Gardot across rooms from the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall to EartH in Hackney, KOKO and the Roundhouse. A concert hall one night, KOKO the next.

Soho sits in the middle of all that crossing town, and Kiss the Hippo Coffee Soho is the pause between sessions. The coffee comes from the brand's own roastery in Richmond, and this counter pours it to the roastery's standard. Every coffee arrives with printed tasting notes, blends included, and the sourcing reaches Cup of Excellence lots and rare varietals. Skip the blend and order a single origin; ten days of jazz is a long time to drink the same thing.

Battersea Park Fireworks, 7 and 8 November

Wandsworth Council's Battersea Park Fireworks ↗ run over two ticketed nights, sold separately. Saturday is the full fireworks and bonfire; Sunday is the family version, with activities for kids.

On the walk in from Queenstown Road, Sendero Specialty Coffee at Queen's Circus is the stop. It sources and roasts its own coffee, names its single origins, and sells retail beans to take home. South London knows Sendero for its gelato, but in November you're there for the coffee. On the Sunday, make a day of it with an earlier stop at Nostos Coffee, where the freeze-distilled flat white is the house signature, built on a named-lot single origin. Pour-over is on the menu if you want your coffee straight.

England at Twickenham, 8, 14 and 21 November

England's autumn internationals at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham ↗ bring Australia on Sunday 8 November, Japan on Saturday 14 November and New Zealand on Saturday 21 November, with a fourth home match on Finals Weekend, 27 to 29 November, against an opponent the standings will decide. New Zealand is the ticket to chase.

In St Margarets, a short walk from the stadium, Wylie's Coffee is the cup before kick-off. Two guest roasters rotate through every month, on the filter, in the guest espresso and on the retail shelf, so the rotation is the menu. Order the filter, where the guests have the most room. After the final whistle, head into Richmond for Hagen Espresso Bar, which roasts under its own name and sells its own-label single origins at the counter. Buy a bag for the train home.

Also running through the month

Also on in November: the RM Sotheby's London to Brighton Veteran Car Run ↗ sends its first cars off Serpentine Road in Hyde Park at sunrise (06:56am) on Sunday 1 November. The Alexandra Palace Fireworks & Drone Festival ↗ runs on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November, a party night followed by a family day. Christmas at Kew ↗ opens its after-dark light trail on selected evenings from Friday 13 November. Skate at Somerset House ↗ opens the courtyard rink on 11 November, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland ↗ returns on 19 November, and the free Winter Market ↗ fills Queen's Walk under Hungerford Bridge from 2 November. Kew, the rink, Winter Wonderland and the market all run into January, so they fit around any of the weekends above.

By December the angels are old news, the procession has gone home and the bonfire is ash in Battersea Park. The bag of Monmouth or Hagen beans on your kitchen counter is still going, and that's the part of the trip that lasts.