Plaxis is the industry standard here. Doesn't mean it's the best, but it's relatively easy to use: user interface straight forward, material models available, options to check if the curves produced by models are repræsentative of the measurements.
Always be aware FEM is not perfect. Especially stiffness curve estimates are prone to error. Ultimate strength is predicted relatively well, but still has to be double checked - compared with existing records of tests, or by testing in real life, full scale structures.
Hi, I think that ABAQUS is really great. However, I heard from friends who work with both,that Plaxis is better for geotechnical problems. However, ABAQUS can handle geotichnics greatly.