The two men met before the ex-Pope moved to the traditional papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome.
It was the first time the retired pope had returned to the villa since he resigned in 2013.
Benedict XVI, 88, is expected to remain there for two weeks.
Before he stood down Pope Benedict spent large parts of the summer moments in the papal villa to escape the heat.
Pope Francis has not been known to take full summer breaks himself, but made a special trip to the villa.
During the summer the pontiff will hold his Angelus prayer and address every Sunday but there will not be any Wednesday general audiences in July.
All meetings with the Pope will be suspended throughout July and the general audience will resume in August.
He will however be visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July, touring around seven cities where altitudes range from 35m (116 feet) to 3,800m (12,500 feet) above sea level.
He is expected to give more than 20 speeches at almost 40 events over his trip.
