It is probably the best freeware out there. I use Mentor Graphics PADS at work, but have thought about getting the non-profit license of Eagle for hobby use (going up to work to use their stuff feels to much like work at times, and if I change jobs I don't really want to lose all my schematics and board designs).
Anyway, whatever you do make sure you start from a schematic and then take that to the board to start your layout. One nice thing about Eagle is the extensive part libraries it already comes with.
There are others out there including some proprietary ones where they give you the software free but you have to use them for board manufacturing. Those can be good too depending on your needs. Others are probably more familiar with those so I will let them chime in. A professor I had in college used one of those for his embedded systems class and was happy with them. I'll try to remember the name, I think you had to order 4 boards or something like that.