For something with a more control than XML::Simple, and not as steep a learning curve as the full XML::LibXML, you might want to try XML::TreeBuilder. All of the parts of the documentation that you probably want are actually in HTML::Element, which is a subclass. It's straightforward to use, if a bit tedious sometimes, if you want to build a well behaved tree of XML or HTML.

But as far as "best", it really depends on what you need to optimize. I often use different modules that cover related functions depending on whether it's a quick hack or something I want to be able to expand later.