The tip leakage flow in turbines is considered to be responsible/or significant machine losses. An efficient reduction of these losses by e. g. squealer cavities at rotor blade tips requires a detailed physical and quantitative understanding of the tip leakage flow. For this purpose, numerical flow simulations are a valuable tool, but they have to be validated by measurements. However, non-intrusive, optical flow measurements in a rotating machine are challenging due to the small tip gap dimensions.Using an optimized optical setup, all three velocity components of the tip gap flow field were resolved while the turbine (1.5 stage low Mach number turbine test rig) was running with 930Hz blade passing frequency at the design point. The measurement results are in good qualitative agreement with numerical flow simulations. The gap flow above the squealer cavity is not homogeneous, but has several flow gradients, which mainly result from the blade tip geometry and the continuity of the flow. Furthermore, the flow structure between two successive rotor blades was resolved yielding the size and shape of the tip leakage vortex downstream at the suction side of the rotor blade in the measurement plane. Consequently, the capabilities of the applied measurement approach opens promising perspectives toward the development of optimum blade tip designs with minimized tip leakage.Copyright © 2013 by ASME