A 3-dimensional CFD-model has been developed to simulate the natural convection flow in ladles. Qualified measurements of temperature and velocities in 107 and 7 tonne ladles have been made to verify the model. The downward convection flow at the ladle wall has been studied using radioactive isotopes and the thermal stratification has been studied by means of continuous temperature measurements. The experimental techniques are complex and additional numerical simulations have been carried out to study the effect of the measurement technique on the measurement error. The result indicates that the measurements are of sufficient accuracy for the validation. The measurements are compared to predictions from the numerical model. The main conclusion is that the theoretical CFD model gives a very accurate estimation of the temperature distribution during holding.