Best Lake Garda town for mountains, Christmas markets, food and lively atmosphere in mid-December 2026?

We’ll be traveling through Northern Italy December 6–19, 2026, on a route roughly:

Bologna → Modena → Verona → Lake Garda → Milan

We expect to be around Lake Garda in mid-December, approximately December 11–15, although we haven’t fixed the exact Garda nights yet.

We’re looking for somewhere with:

• dramatic mountain and lake scenery
• ideally snowy mountains in the background
• a strong Christmas market / Christmas atmosphere
• lively in December, especially in the evening
• excellent local food and regional products
• historic or unusual things to do
• not necessarily extremely touristy

We’ll have a car, so train access isn’t important.

We’re currently considering Riva del Garda, Bardolino and Sirmione, with Riva especially appealing because we want that mountainous winter-lake scenery.

Which town would you choose specifically for mid-December 2026? Are there any Garda towns that look great in summer but become too quiet in winter?

We’ll also be in Verona around December 13 for Santa Lucia, so ideally we’d like the Garda portion to feel noticeably different from Verona.