To treat html I only know 2 good programs : Dreamweaver and Notepad. That’s what I use.
If you planning to build a simple website in html the best thing to do is to use a wysywyg software like dreamweaver. Although you must know something about html and you must have some skills regarding design. You will need another software package to buil your graphics like Fireworks or Photoshop.
If you don’t know much about design and html, the best thing to do is to buy a template as suggested by webber, and then make some arrangements.
If you plan to build a more complicated website with database and extra functionality, the best thing to do is to use a CMS – content management system, like postnuke, mambo, phpnuke, and many more freely available.
In any case you’ll need some html knowledge.