  We present and characterize a versatile experimental setup which allows for
excitation and detection of Rydberg atoms in quantum gases. The novel concept
of the setup features two charged particle detectors and eight electrical field
plates inside the vacuum chamber, which allows the detection and manipulation
of Rydberg atoms. The setup presented here is applicable to all atomic species
used in the field of quantum gases. We describe and characterize the production
of Bose-Einstein condensates, the excitation scheme into Rydberg states, the
detection of Rydberg states by field ionization followed by ion detection and
the various electric field configurations provided by the eight field plates.
